Satya Nadella marks his tenth year as Microsoft CEO on Sunday, capping a decade of stunning growth as he pivoted the slow-moving software giant into a laser focus on cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
Microsoft’s stock has soared by more than 1,000% since Nadella took the helm in 2014, compared to the more gradual 185% growth of the broader S&P 500. Microsoft now has a market value of $3 trillion — more than any U.S. publicly traded company, including its longtime rival Apple.
"Nadella’s had the biggest transformation of a tech company potentially ever," said Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives. “The only one that would rival it was (Steve) Jobs coming back to Apple and turning it around with the iPhone.”
Microsoft has created $2.8 trillion in shareholder wealth in the past decade, meaning an investor who bought a $10,000 stake in Microsoft at the time Nadella took over and did nothing with those shares, would have a stake worth about $113,000 now.
Ongoing challenges
Nadella's tenure hasn't been without hiccups, especially given how much of the world relies so heavily on Microsoft products — sometimes to the frustration of people using them.
Cybersecurity experts say its tendency is to sacrifice security for convenience, including in its gung-ho rollout of AI large language models.
The company’s trademark suite of work tools, Microsoft Office 365, has also been penetrated successfully in recent years in embarrassing high-profile compromises that have seen elite Russian and Chinese cyber operators access the email accounts of senior U.S. officials and members of Microsoft’s senior leadership team.
None of those challenges are likely to push Nadella, 56, who made $48.5 million in total compensation last year and has also chaired Microsoft's board since 2021, out of his leadership roles anytime soon.
“From everything I can gather, he’s really enjoying himself,” said Raimo Lenschow, a stock analyst at Barclays who covers 36 tech companies.
“We’re in very, very, very interesting times. I would expect him to stay for a while.”
