Retired computer consultant Robert Lewis, 70, is being paid $8.8 million for a three-year contract with Dell Inc. for consulting work, his company said.
The contract is part of a new arrangement between the two companies, said Bob Lewis, president and CEO of Lewis & Smith.
The two companies have been working together on an expansion of their technology businesses and are working together to deliver a new technology platform that is going to be a leader in cloud computing, Lewis said.
Lewis said the contract was completed this year and includes a five-year option that includes a 10-year term, which is not a part of the contract.
The total amount Lewis will receive for the contract is $9.2 million.
Lewis is the highest paid software consultant, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek survey of top software and services executives.
He is also listed among the top five compensation packages for the next five years at companies that report revenue.
Lewis retired from Dell in 2013 and is now chairman and chief executive officer of Lewis-Clark Consulting Group, according the firm.
His compensation for the three years he worked as an advisor for the company was $2.6 million, according Bloomberg.
Lewis and his wife, Linda, have three children and a granddaughter.
He said his family was thrilled with the new arrangement.
I am very grateful for the opportunity to work with the Dell team, and we look forward to continuing to work together to bring our clients the benefits of the technology that we bring to them.
More from CNNMoney:Top 10 tech salaries in 2018As it turns out, the software consultant Lewis < Smith is not alone in making a fortune in the cloud.
Other companies that have been hiring tech consultants for the past few years include Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc., and Oracle Corp. Some of the companies have recently hired them as part of new initiatives to hire more people in the industry.
Microsoft is expected to hire 3,000 more software consultants this year, and it is already hiring a second generation of software consultants, according Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in an interview with CNBC.
The company has been hiring people from across the U.S. to help develop its new cloud-based IT software, Nadell said.