Hyderabad-born Satya Nadella is CEO, Microsoft

Manipal University erupted in joy and India’s media – both news and social, went into an overdrive when Microsoft’s board, on 4^th February, named Hyderabad-born Satya Nadella as the CEO of the tech giant. Microsoft is a name generic to software that has made the common person computer-efficient. Known for making Windows, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook Express – Microsoft is a household name in user-friendly software and operating systems all across the world.

Nadella, 46, became only the third chief executive in the company’s 39 years of history, succeeding Steve Ballmer who’d announced his retirement on August 23 last year after serving Microsoft from January 2000 to February 2014.

Almost every major newspaper across the world covered the story of this Hyderabadi lad who went on to create history in the world of business and technology.

From L to R: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella with Founder and Technology Advisor Bill Gates and former CEO Steve Ballmer (Pic: Microsoft)

“Having worked with him for more than 20 years, I know that Satya is the right leader at the right time for Microsoft,” said Steve Ballmer, in a company release. Balmer had announced on Aug. 23, 2013 that he would retire once a successor was named. “I’ve had the distinct privilege of working with the most talented employees and senior leadership team in the industry, and I know their passion and hunger for greatness will only grow stronger under Satya’s leadership,” he said.

“Microsoft is one of those rare companies to have truly revolutionized the world through technology, and I couldn’t be more honored to have been chosen to lead the company,” Nadella said, in a release. “The opportunity ahead for Microsoft is vast, but to seize it, we must focus clearly, move faster and continue to transform. A big part of my job is to accelerate our ability to bring innovative products to our customers more quickly.”

“Our industry does not respect tradition — it only respects innovation.”

“During this time of transformation, there is no better person to lead Microsoft than Satya Nadella,” said Bill Gates, Microsoft’s Founder and Member of the Board of Directors. “Satya is a proven leader with hard-core engineering skills, business vision and the ability to bring people together. His vision for how technology will be used and experienced around the world is exactly what Microsoft needs as the company enters its next chapter of expanded product innovation and growth.”

The Times of India said, “Nadella was Microsoft’s second-highest paid executive last year, earning $7.7 million in salary, bonus and stock grants. Only COO Kevin Turner made more. Microsoft has not yet announced his new package.”

Born in 1967 as Nadella Satya Narayana in Hyderabad to an IAS officer, B. N. Yugandhar; Nadella majored in engineering in electronics and communication degree from Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal, Karnataka.

Then he moved to US and did MS in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Following this, he added an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Before joining Microsoft, Nadella was associated with Sun Microsystems, as a member of its technology staff, since 1992.

In this first mail to employees after taking charge Satya Nadella gave a hint of his strategy. “While we have seen great success, we are hungry to do more. Our industry does not respect tradition — it only respects innovation. This is a critical time for the industry and for Microsoft. Make no mistake, we are headed for greater places — as technology evolves and we evolve with and ahead of it. Our job is to ensure that Microsoft thrives in a mobile and cloud-first world,” he wrote.

As power comes with challenges in tow, we wish this blue-eyed techie best of luck for his new role.

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