Since 2014, when he took over for Steve Ballmer, Satya Nadella has been the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Microsoft. Since then, the company has grown a lot. Nadella was also named Executive Chairman of Microsoft on June 16, 2021. He took over for John W. Thompson.
Nadella is an Indian-American business executive. He is the former Executive Vice President of Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise Group. His last position was conferred with the job of examining the computing platforms of the company.
Personal Life
Satya Nadella was born to a Telugu-speaking Hindu family in Hyderabad, India (at present, Telangana). His father, Bukkapuram Nadella Yugandhar, worked as an officer for the Indian Administrative Service in 1962.
His mother, Prabhavati, was a Sanskrit lecturer. His father shifted from Nadella village to Bukkapuram in Anantapuramu district, Andhra Pradesh, and later to Hyderabad.
Satya Nadella was married to Anupama in 1992. The couple has three children: two daughters and one son. His son, Zain, is a legally blind quadriplegic with cerebral palsy. The family resides in Clyde Hill and Bellevue, Washington.
Education
Satya Nadella completed his primary education at Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet. He later pursued a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from the Manipal Institute of Technology in Karnataka. He completed his graduation degree in 1988.
Later, he went abroad for higher studies. He completed an M.S. in computer science from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1990. He also pursued an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 1966.
Professional Life
Satya Nadella started his career as a member of the technology staff at Sun Microsystems. In 1992, he joined Microsoft. Initially, he worked on the development of Windows NT.
He later led major projects related to cloud computing at Microsoft. He held reputable leadership roles in business and enterprises across Microsoft.
He also wrote a book, HitRefresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone, published in 2017. The book consists of his experiences and career at Microsoft. Moreover, he declared that the profits from the book would go to Microsoft Philanthropies via nonprofit organizations.
Microsoft
Satya Nadella Joined Microsoft in 1992 as a young engineer. Nadella got promoted to corporate vice president of Microsoft Business Solutions in 2001.
He was later employed as the vice president of research and development (R&D) for the Online Services Division (2007–2011) and the Microsoft Business Division.
He was then promoted to President of the Server and Tools Division (2011–2014). He vividly helped the company bring Microsoft’s database, Windows Server, and developer tools to its Azure cloud. The revenue from cloud services grew to $20.3 billion in June 2013 from $16.6 billion when he took over in 2011. Moreover, he received $84.5 million in 2016.
Satya Nadella was appointed as the new CEO of Microsoft in February 2014. He was sequentially the third CEO of Microsoft, following Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. Under Nadella, the company’s stock had tripled by September 2018, with a 27% annual growth rate.
After serving as Microsoft’s CEO for over 7 years, Satya Nadella was appointed as the company’s Executive Chairman on June 16, 2021. He succeeded John W. Thompson to become chairman.
Nadella said that when Microsoft and Linux work together, they will be able to compete with companies like Apple, Salesforce, and Dropbox. Microsoft officially joined the Linux Foundation as a Platinum member in 2016.
Moreover, he empowered a cultural shift at Microsoft by highlighting empathy, collaboration, and a “growth mindset.” He has successfully changed the corporate world of Microsoft to an environment that emphasizes continual learning and growth.
Microsoft’s Acquisition:
Satya Nadella’s first acquisition with Microsoft was in 2014. He acquired a Swedish video game developer, Mojang. He also paid $2.5 billion to acquire Minecraft, a different company best known for its video game.
He also purchased the software company Xamarin. He then stepped up by purchasing the professional network LinkedIn, worth $26.2 billion, in 2016. Microsoft paid $7.5 billion to officially acquire GitHub on October 26, 2018.
Controversies
When Satya Nadella said in a statement that women shouldn’t ask for a raise and should trust the system, he got a lot of backlash. He made the statement while he was present at a conference on women in computing.
He later wrote an apology letter to Microsoft through email, admitting that he was “completely wrong.” Before the formal apology to the company, he apologized on Twitter as well.
Conclusion
Satya Nadella’s story is inspiring for all generations. Satya Nadella didn’t build an enterprise himself. He worked hard to achieve this success. He was selected to run an existing large enterprise based on his past work and leadership skills. Nobody cares what degrees you’ve got or from which college or university you’ve graduated.
The only thing that matters is what you can give to the company. The company only cares about your ability to do the job, and in Satya Nadella’s case, Microsoft had 22 years to evaluate that.
People admire Satya Nadella for his positive leadership skills and empathy towards the employees, which have made him the best CEO to work with.