What Is Satya Nadella's Net Worth and Salary?
Satya Nadella is an Indian-American technology executive who has a net worth of $500 million. Satya Nadella has earned his fortune thanks to his highly successful and lengthy career at Microsoft. Satya joined Microsoft in 1992. He famously earned an MBA taking weekend classes at the University of Chicago, commuting from Seattle. He led several key Microsoft divisions before being selected to replace Steve Ballmer as CEO in 2014. Under Steve Ballmer's tenure (which lasted from 2000 to 2014), Microsoft's share price increased around 21%, from start to finish. Under Satya, Microsoft's share price has increased nearly 900%. Between 2014 and 2023 (so not including his first twenty years at the company), Satya received $1 billion in compensation (salary, equity grants, dividends, and bonuses).
Satya is undoubtedly the most successful CEO in Microsoft history. During Bill Gates' reign, Microsoft's peak market cap was $614 billion. That market cap was achieved on December 27, 1999, at the absolute peak of the dot-com bubble. When Steve Ballmer took over, the company's market cap was around $260 billion. During Ballmer's reign, Microsoft dropped as low as $160 billion in the washout from the 2008 great recession, then peaked at $315 billion right before he handed over to Satya Nadella. Over the next five years under Satya, the company's market cap raced to over $1 trillion. Then $2 trillion. Then nearly $3 trillion.
In contrast to Microsoft's traditional philosophy of fierce competition with rivals, Nadella instead emphasizes cooperation. Throughout his tenure, he has developed closer relationships with companies like IBM, Salesforce, and Dropbox. Satya has even pushed for warmer relationships with companies like Linux and Apple. Over the course of his career, Nadella has been honored with numerous accolades. He has been named Person of the Year or Businessperson of the Year by several different publications.
Salary
In 2013, Satya earned a base salary of $669,000 and received an additional $ 17.6 million compensation package in the form of stock options and bonuses. In 2014, his total compensation rose to approximately $40 million. Between 2015 and 2017, Nadella earned $20 million per year through salary and bonuses alone. In 2019, he earned a total sum of $42 million. This represented a mix of base salary, stock options, and other performance-based incentives. At least $10.8 million of his compensation package for 2019 came from a single cash bonus, and his base salary for that year was $2,333,333.
Shares
According to an SEC filing in 2020, Satya owned around 1.7 million shares of Microsoft. At that point, those shares were worth roughly $330 million.
Over a two-day period in November 2021, Satya sold 838,584 shares of Microsoft, resulting in a yield of $285 million.
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Early Life & Education
Satya Narayana Nadella was born on August 19, 1967, in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. After graduating from secondary school, Satya attended the Manipal Institute of Technology and eventually earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. After graduating in 1988, Satya relocated to the United States in order to attend the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Once there, he earned an M.S. in computer science before attending the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. In the mid-1990s, while working at Microsoft, Satya returned to the University of Chicago's Booth School to earn an MBA. He commuted back and forth each weekend from Seattle.
Career
Nadella began his career at Sun Microsystems, an American computer and software company. Satya began his career at Microsoft in 1992. Before becoming CEO, he held several key positions within the company, showcasing his wide range of skills and leadership qualities.
- Senior Vice President of Research and Development for the Online Services Division: In this role, Nadella was responsible for overseeing the R&D efforts for Microsoft's online services, a crucial area as the company sought to expand its internet services.
- Vice President of the Business Division: Nadella was responsible for managing business solutions like Microsoft Dynamics (ERP & CRM software) during his time in this position. This role required a blend of technical knowledge and business acumen, as he was overseeing a part of Microsoft's business that was critical for enterprise customers.
- Executive Vice President of Cloud and Enterprise Group: This was one of Nadella's most significant roles before becoming CEO. He was instrumental in transforming Microsoft's cloud computing infrastructure, including the development of one of the largest cloud infrastructures in the world to support Bing, Xbox, and Office. Under his leadership, the revenue from Cloud Services grew, and the company's stock price increased significantly.
- President of the Server & Tools Division: Nadella led the transformation of the business and technology culture from client services to cloud infrastructure and services. He was heavily involved in bringing Microsoft's database, Windows Server, and developer tools to its Azure cloud.
Revenue from Microsoft's Cloud Services grew immensely under Nadella's leadership, rocketing from around $16 million in 2011 to over $20 billion in 2013. In 2014, Satya was named the new CEO of Microsoft, becoming the third person to hold this position after Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. While Nadella continues to push for greater implementation of cloud technology, he has also emphasized general characteristics such as learning and empathy.
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Acquisitions
Some of Satya Nadella's most notable contributions to Microsoft since becoming CEO have involved a number of acquisitions. Perhaps Microsoft's most famous acquisition of the modern era came in 2014 when it purchased Mojang, a Swedish video game company responsible for creating the insanely popular game Minecraft.
In the years that followed, Nadella also oversaw the acquisition of Xamarin, a San Francisco-based company that specializes in Common-Language Infrastructure (CLI). In addition, Nadella pushed for the acquisition of LinkedIn, which was successfully acquired by Microsoft in 2016 for $26.2 billion. In 2018, Microsoft purchased GitHub for $7.5 billion. In 2023, Microsoft agreed to invest $11 billion over time into OpenAi, the maker of ChatGPT.
Other Ventures
Outside of his work with Microsoft, Satya has pursued many additional ventures. He and his wife, Anupama, are partial owners of the Seattle Sounders, a professional Major League Soccer team. In 2017, he also published a book entitled "Hit Refresh," which covers his early life, career, and vision for the future of technology. All proceeds from his book sales went to nonprofit organizations.
Nadella also serves on boards and committees of numerous companies and entities. These include Starbucks, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and the University of Chicago.
Personal Life
In 1992, Satya married Anupama, a woman whom he had met while studying at Manipal University. She was studying for a bachelor of architecture degree at the time. Over the course of their relationship, Anupama and Satya have had three children together. The family currently lives in Washington.
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Real Estate
In 2016, it was announced that Satya Nadella was selling his home in Washington for $2.8 million. Located in the neighborhood of Clyde Hill, the spacious home features French doors, meticulously maintained lawns, and outdoor entertaining areas. There are also spectacular views of Lake Washington and the Olympic Mountains. Satya first listed the property for $3.5 million but later settled on a significantly lowered price of $2.8.
This might seem like a major price cut, but one has to remember that Nadella originally purchased the home 16 years prior for $1.385 million. This means that the Nadellas were able to double their initial investment. After selling the 4,050-square-foot property, Satya and his family stayed in Washington and presumably moved to another home in Bellevue that he had purchased in 2013 for $422,500.
