Who Is Satya Nadella? Microsoft's Chairman and CEO

Satya Nadella is the chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft, an engineer who joined the company in 1992 and became its CEO in February 2014. The board made him chairman as well in June 2021, so he runs the company and leads the board that oversees it. Before the top job, he ran Microsoft's cloud and enterprise business.

Microsoft's yearly revenue rose in all but one of the 13 annual reports it has filed with Nadella as CEO. It went from $77.8 billion in fiscal 2013, his last year before the top job, to $331.8 billion in fiscal 2026. That's more than four times as much, and it grew at a faster yearly pace than in the four years before he took over.

What Does Satya Nadella Do?

Nadella holds the two top jobs at Microsoft. As chief executive he runs the business and sets its strategy, and as chairman he leads the board of directors that oversees management.

What Nadella runs got a new shape in September 2026, when Microsoft regrouped its reporting into two segments to match how the business is managed. A filing Microsoft made in late October lays them out.

Agents and Infra brings together Microsoft's applications and agents (AI software that carries out tasks on its own), what it calls its "multi-model system" and the Azure cloud infrastructure. Devices and Consumer holds Microsoft's main consumer products.

Revenue rose 19% to $92.3 billion in the quarter to September 2026, the first Microsoft reported that way. Agents and Infra brought in $76.8 billion of it, more than four-fifths, and Devices and Consumer the other $15.5 billion.

Microsoft also buys AI computing from outside. Nebius, an AI cloud company run by Yandex co-founder Arkady Volozh, says in its annual report for 2025 that it signed long-term contracts for billions of dollars to provide computing capacity to Microsoft and Meta.

Is Satya Nadella Still CEO of Microsoft?

Yes. Microsoft's proxy statement, filed on 21 October 2026 ahead of its annual meeting, says "Mr. Nadella was appointed CEO in February 2014 and Chairman in June 2021." Its results release later that month named him "chairman and chief executive officer" as well.

Nadella's combined role is on the ballot, though. In Proposal 7, the New York State Common Retirement Fund asks the board to require two different people in the chairman and CEO jobs. The board recommends a vote against it, and the virtual annual meeting is scheduled for 8 December 2026.

The fund argues that one person holding both jobs weakens the board's oversight of its chief executive. Its statement also notes that John Thompson was the board's independent chairman from February 2014 to June 2021. The fund adds that 42% of S&P 500 boards had an independent director as chairman in 2025, up from 29% in 2015.

The board answers that Nadella is the director best qualified to lead it, given how well he knows Microsoft's business and strategy. It also points to Sandra Peterson, its lead independent director, who leads the yearly review of the CEO's performance and coordinates the board's oversight of CEO succession planning.

Arista Networks runs on the same model, with CEO and chairperson Jayshree Ullal holding both titles since December 2023 alongside a lead independent director.

How Did Satya Nadella Become CEO of Microsoft?

He rose through Microsoft's own ranks. Nadella had spent more than 20 years at the company when the board picked him.

Nokia went the other way when it hired Justin Hotard as its CEO from April 2025, bringing him in from Intel's data center and AI group.

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's CEO since January 2000, had announced in August 2013 that he would retire once a successor was named. On 4 February 2014, the board appointed Nadella chief executive and a director "effective immediately," according to Microsoft's announcement that day.

The same announcement moved Bill Gates from chairman to a new board role as founder and technology advisor. John Thompson, then the lead independent director, became chairman and said Nadella had "the unanimous support of our Board."

Microsoft's handover ran without a stopgap. Intel's needed one in December 2024, when its chief executive resigned with immediate effect and the board named two interim co-CEOs, among them Intel CFO David Zinsner.

Satya Nadella's Career Before the Top Job

Before Microsoft, Nadella was on the technology staff at Sun Microsystems. After joining Microsoft in 1992, he led research and development for the Online Services Division and was vice president of the Microsoft Business Division. As head of Cloud and Enterprise, Nadella led the move into cloud infrastructure and services, which Microsoft says "outperformed the market and took share from competition."

Nadella holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Mangalore University, a master's in computer science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

How Did Satya Nadella Change Microsoft?

The clearest change under Nadella is size and speed, and Microsoft's annual reports measure both. Each 10-K, the annual report Microsoft files with the SEC every summer, compares the year's revenue with the year before. Microsoft's fiscal year ends on 30 June, so fiscal 2026 is the year to June 2026.

Counted as each report stated it, revenue rose in 12 of the 13 filed with Nadella as CEO, from fiscal 2014 through the fiscal 2026 report. The one fall came in fiscal 2016, when revenue slipped about 9% to $85.3 billion.

Rising revenue alone isn't new at Microsoft, since the four annual reports before his first one showed rises too. The pace is what changed. Revenue compounded at about 12% a year from fiscal 2013 to fiscal 2026, against about 7% a year in the four years before. Fiscal 2026 alone added almost 18% on top of $281.7 billion the year before.

Revenue is the only line in that count. It doesn't show profit or what drove each year, and a chief executive doesn't set sales alone. Still, the speed-up is hard to wave away. It came on a base that was already large. The board makes a similar case in its answer to Proposal 7, calling Nadella's tenure as combined CEO and chairman "marked by exceptional, sustained financial performance."

What Did Satya Nadella Say About AI?

In Microsoft's results release for the quarter to September 2026, published in late October, Nadella spoke about AI in terms of agents and intelligence that customers own. He said Microsoft was delivering more capability, choice and control to customers "across our entire stack," with better cost efficiency.

Nadella added that "by helping organizations build and own their own intelligence, and earning trust through agent safety and security, we are translating our innovation into growing adoption and real-world impact across every industry."

The same release put numbers on that adoption. Microsoft Cloud revenue rose 30% to $63.9 billion. Azure, Microsoft's cloud computing platform, grew its revenue 48%.

If you follow MSFT, watch its commercial remaining performance obligation, the revenue business customers have already signed for and Microsoft has yet to book. It rose 73% to $677 billion.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Satya Nadella best known for?

Leading Microsoft as its chief executive since February 2014. Before that he ran the Cloud and Enterprise group behind the company's move to the cloud, and under him Microsoft's yearly revenue grew more than fourfold from fiscal 2013 to fiscal 2026.

When did Satya Nadella become Microsoft's chairman?

In June 2021, about seven years after he became CEO. Microsoft's proxy says its independent directors appoint the chairman each year, and the board named a lead independent director when he took the role.

Who was Microsoft's CEO before Satya Nadella?

Steve Ballmer, who had held the job since January 2000. When the board named Nadella in February 2014, Ballmer called him "the right leader at the right time for Microsoft."

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice. Cryptocurrency trading involves substantial risk. Always do your own research before making investment decisions.