Satya Nadella Net Worth

As of 2022, Satya Nadella had 763,518, valued at $190 million at Microsoft’s current market value. Nadella also got a $2.5 million base salary in 2022, plus $42.27 million in stock awards and over $10 million in non-stock incentives. Nadella sold hundreds of millions of dollars of Microsoft stocks in the last ten years, making him a centi-millionaire. In 2022, 96% of Nadella’s salary was performance-based, whereas only 4% comprised a base salary.

Microsoft’s CEO Compensation Structure

Since Nadella was elected CEO, he has led Microsoft to a remarkable ascent to become one of the top-performing CEO of the last decade.

As a result, Nadella has become a centi-millionaire over the years. Indeed, as of 2022, he owned 763,518 stocks of Microsoft valued at $190 million.

Microsoft requires Nadella to retain stock ownerships into Microsoft, which ranges from 8 to 15 times his base salary, that in 2022 was $2.5 million.

This means that Nadella must hold, at any time, until he is CEO of the company, at least $20-37.5 million in stocks of Microsoft.

Nadella’s salary comprises base salary + stock incentives + other incentives.

For instance, in 2022, of the total compensation for Nadella, 96% was performance-based, whereas only 4% was base salary.

Background

Satya Nadella is an Indian-American business executive who currently serves as the CEO of Microsoft Corporation.

Nadella has served with Microsoft for over 20 years and has played an instrumental role in its evolution from a PC-focused software company to one with diversified tech interests across cloud computing and AI, to name a couple.

Below is a short history of Nadella’s rise to the helm of one of the most influential companies of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Early career

Nadella received a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1990. Two years later, he joined Sun Microsystems where he worked as a member of the company’s tech staff.

Nadella’s stint at Sun Microsystems was rather brief and he joined Microsoft as a young engineer later that year. Nadella was hired by Richard Tait, manager of a team at Microsoft responsible for convincing business customers that personal computers were the future.

In a later 2014 interview with the Puget Sound Business Journal, Tait described Nadella’s promise despite finding him awkward and insecure: “In the interview… he answered the first question so well, I had trouble coming up with follow-on questions.”

Microsoft

At Microsoft, Nadella proved himself an immediate asset. Thanks to his time at Sun Microsystems, he had experience with the systems most businesses were using and could astutely explain why the Microsoft product was superior. Whilst employed full-time at the company, Nadella earned his MBA from the University of Chicago in 1997.

In the ensuing years, Nadella climbed the ladder and by 2001, had become corporate vice president of Microsoft Business Solutions. In 2007, he was elevated to SVP of Microsoft Online Services which put products like Bing, Xbox Live, and Microsoft Office under his purview.

Four years later, in 2011, he became president of the Server and Tools Division and its Azure cloud platform and data center products. Over the next two years, Nadella grew the division’s revenue by almost 25% to $20.3 billion.

Nadella becomes CEO

Some 22 years after joining the company, Nadella replaced Steve Ballmer as CEO in 2014.

One of his first responsibilities was to oversee Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia’s handset business, Many were skeptical of the move and critical of its $7 billion cost , but the deal had been orchestrated by former CEO Ballmer.

Once the deal was finalized, Nadella terminated 18,000 employees in what became the largest such move in Microsoft’s history. However, former Nokia employees accounted for around 12,500 of the employees.

Two years later in 2016, Nadella oversaw the much more successful acquisition of LinkedIn.

Impact on strategic direction and culture

When Nadella became CEO, he emailed employees and informed them that Microsoft would be headed in a new direction. The new mission – focused on empowering others – read as follows:

“Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.” Primarily, he moved the company away from Ballmer’s mobile-centric vision and toward one focused on cloud, AI, and other emergent technologies.

Microsoft’s previous culture was inflexible, rigid, and characterized by employees having to prove that they were the smartest person in the room. In response, Nadella also instituted a cultural shift that emphasized collaboration, curiosity, learning, and a growth mindset.

Nadella also introduced empathy. When hackers caused the AI chatbot Tay to spew vitriolic information, he sent an email to the Tay team encouraging them to take criticism in the correct spirit and show empathy to anyone hurt by Tay’s comments. More generally, employees are also instructed to ensure that potential customers feel as if Microsoft is invested in their success.

Key takeaways

Satya Nadella is an Indian-American business executive who currently serves as the CEO of Microsoft Corporation. Nadella has served with Microsoft for over 20 years and has played an instrumental role in its recent evolution.
Nadella proved himself an immediate asset at Microsoft when he joined the company in 1992. Thanks to his time at Sun Microsystems, he had experience with the systems most businesses were using and could astutely explain why Microsoft was superior.
Some 22 years after joining the company, Nadella replaced Steve Ballmer as CEO in 2014. He orchestrated the pivotal acquisition of LinkedIn and made Microsoft a more empathic and growth-oriented organization.