Satya Narayana Nadella (born 19 August 1967) is an Indian-American business executive who has been the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Microsoft since 2014, succeeding Steve Ballmer as CEO and later John W. Thompson as chairman in 2021. Before becoming CEO, he was the executive vice president of Microsoft's cloud and enterprise group, where he was responsible for building and running the company's computing platforms. His tenure has been marked by a strategic shift toward cloud computing and artificial intelligence, including a major partnership with OpenAI and the integration of AI across Microsoft's products.
Nadella was born in Hyderabad, India, into a Telugu Hindu family. He studied electrical engineering at the Manipal Institute of Technology before moving to the United States for graduate studies. He joined Microsoft in 1992 and rose through the ranks over two decades, leading key divisions and eventually the company's cloud infrastructure. As CEO, he has overseen a dramatic increase in Microsoft's stock value and a cultural transformation emphasizing empathy and continuous learning.
Early Life and Education
Satya Narayana Nadella was born on 19 August 1967 in Hyderabad, India. His father, Bukkapuram Nadella Yugandhar, was an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1962 batch, and his mother, Prabhavati, was a Sanskrit lecturer. His paternal family roots trace to Nadella village in Guntur district (now Palnadu district) of Andhra Pradesh, with his grandfather having migrated to Bukkapuram in Anantapur district.
Nadella attended the Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet, before earning a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Manipal Institute of Technology in Karnataka in 1988. He then moved to the United States, receiving an MS in computer science from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1990. Later, he completed an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 1997.
Early Career at Sun Microsystems
Before joining Microsoft, Nadella worked at Sun Microsystems as a member of its technology staff. This experience exposed him to the emerging field of networked computing and influenced his later focus on cloud infrastructure.
Microsoft Career Before CEO (1992–2014)
Nadella joined Microsoft in 1992 and held several leadership roles over the next two decades. He served as senior vice president of research and development for the Online Services Division, vice president of the Microsoft Business Division, and corporate vice president of Business Solutions and Search & Advertising Platform Group. In February 2011, he became president of the Server & Tools Division, a role he held until February 2014.
During this period, Nadella was instrumental in transforming Microsoft's business from client-server software to cloud-based services. He led the development of Microsoft Azure, the company's cloud computing platform, and helped bring Windows Server, developer tools, and databases to the cloud. Under his leadership, cloud services revenue grew from $16.6 billion in 2011 to $20.3 billion by June 2013. His compensation in 2013 was approximately $7.6 million, including stock bonuses, with a base salary of $669,167.
CEO of Microsoft (2014–Present)
On 4 February 2014, Nadella was announced as the third CEO in Microsoft's history, following Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. His appointment marked a shift toward a more collaborative and open corporate culture. He revised the company's mission to "empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more" and emphasized empathy, collaboration, and a "growth mindset."
One of his early actions was the acquisition of Mojang, the Swedish game company behind Minecraft, for $2.5 billion in 2014. He later oversaw the purchase of Xamarin, LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in 2016, and GitHub for $7.5 billion in October 2018. These acquisitions expanded Microsoft's reach into gaming, professional networking, and developer tools.
Nadella also changed Microsoft's stance toward competitors and open-source software. He proclaimed "Microsoft ❤️ Linux" and joined the Linux Foundation as a Platinum member in 2016, a departure from previous anti-Linux campaigns. He fostered partnerships with companies like Apple, Salesforce, IBM, and Dropbox.
Under his leadership, Microsoft's stock increased nearly tenfold from 2014 to November 2023, with a 27% annual growth rate, ending a 14-year period of near-zero growth. His compensation in 2024 totaled $79.1 million, a 63% increase from $48.5 million in 2023.
In October 2014, Nadella faced controversy at a Women in Computing event when he suggested women should not ask for raises but trust the system. He later apologized on Twitter and sent an email to employees admitting he was "completely wrong."
In January 2026, Nadella urged people to stop calling AI-generated content "slop" and instead accept AI as the "new equilibrium" of human nature. The public reaction intensified backlash, and the term "Microslop" became popular on social media, an example of the Streisand effect.
Sports Ownership
In 2023, Nadella, along with Soma Somasegar, Samir Bodas, Ashok Krishnamurthi, Sanjay Parthasarathy, and the GMR Group, purchased the Seattle Orcas cricket team, which participated in the 2023 Major League Cricket season. Nadella, an avid cricket fan who played on his school team, has credited the sport with improving his leadership skills.
Boards and Committees
Nadella has served on several boards and committees. He was on the Board of Directors of Starbucks from 2017 to 2024 and has been a trustee of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and the University of Chicago. He also served as chairman of The Business Council from 2021 to 2022.
Awards and Recognition
Nadella has received numerous honors. He was named a Time 100 honoree in 2018 and 2024, Financial Times Person of the Year in 2019, and Fortune Magazine Businessperson of the Year in 2019. In 2014, he was awarded the CNN-News18 Indian of the Year, and in 2020, he was recognized as Global Indian Business Icon at CNBC-TV18's India Business Leader Awards. The Government of India awarded him the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman in 2015 and the Padma Bhushan in 2022. He received an honorary PhD from the Georgia Institute of Technology in January 2024.
Personal Life
In 1992, Nadella married Anupama Priyadarshini, the daughter of his father's IAS batchmate. They met while both were students at Manipal, where Anupama was pursuing a B.Arch. The couple have three children: a son, Zain, who was legally blind and quadriplegic with cerebral palsy, and two daughters. Zain died in February 2022 at age 26. Nadella has spoken about how being a father to a child with special needs was a turning point in his life. The family resides in Clyde Hill and Bellevue, Washington.
Nadella is an avid reader of American and Indian poetry and enjoys cricket. His leadership style has been influenced by his experiences both in sports and in managing personal challenges.