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  • Team
    • Jul 3, 2023
    • 2 min read

Why Bill Gates chose Satya Nadella


Satya Nadella went from a small-town Hyderabad boy with a head full of dreams to the third CEO Microsoft has seen in 2014 after Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. Satya Nadella’s Leadership journey was deeply influenced by his love for computer science. Nadella decided to pursue this love by getting a master's degree in 1990 in America from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and followed it up with an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 1996.


Nadella started his journey with Microsoft in 1992. His warm, soft-spoken yet ambitious and determined personality soon got him noticed in the Microsoft headquarters. Satya Nadella’s Story is a testament to his constant hunger to learn and better himself, which led him to rise rapidly up the ranks from heading up the Cloud & Enterprise Group to serving as President for the Servers & Tools division. This Microsoft CEO History wouldn't be the same without him, as he played a very crucial role in pushing the company in the direction of advanced technology.


In 2014 Steve Ballmer announced his retirement, fuelling speculations about his successor. Echoing the Bill Gates Leadership style, Nadella was a strong candidate for the job as he had led many of his projects successfully to shore. Even with the acquisition of Nokia in 2012, Microsoft still managed to have a successful year because of the success of its projects. With 22 years of experience and a track record of constant innovation, Satya Nadella’s Leadership led to him being named CEO of Microsoft in 2014.


As CEO, he transformed Microsoft's corporate culture into one that emphasizes continuous learning and growth. Following the Satya Nadella’s Story, we see that under him, Microsoft's mission statement changed to the empowerment of every individual and organization in the world. And he emphasized collaboration with companies and technologies that were competitors, including Apple Inc., Salesforce, IBM, and Dropbox. Adding another remarkable chapter in Microsoft CEO History, under Nadella, by September 2018, Microsoft's stock had tripled with a 27% annual growth rate, and in 2020 it ended the year with over $44.28 billion in net income, a sizable increase from its 2018 figure and a record high.


Nadella has made his own share of mistakes, but his attitude of learning from them has helped him become who he is today. He not only contributed to the upward trajectory of Microsoft but also contributed to Digital India, staying true to his roots. Still his humble and warm self, he has even written a book named "Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft's Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone" published in 2017.


Read more about Satya Nadella's story here:

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