On February 4, 2014, approximately ten years ago, Satya Nadella assumed the role of CEO at Microsoft, succeeding Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer in that order
It was not an easy scenario for Nadella to be in, given that Microsoft had missed the transition to mobile devices, Windows 8 had failed miserably, and the PC market had begun to fall, calling Microsoft’s core business, Windows, into question.
“Having worked with him for more than 20 years, I know that Satya is the right leader at the right time for Microsoft,” stated Steve Ballmer when Nadella was named his successor. He was right.
Before being appointed CEO, Nadella oversaw transforming Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure and services business.
As CEO, he doubled down on this transformation, turning Microsoft’s “Intelligent Cloud” business into an industry-leading powerhouse that generated nearly $90 billion in revenue in the most recent fiscal year.
Back in 2014, most people who were given the option of investing $1,000 in Microsoft, Apple, or any other member of the so-called GAFAM group would have chosen Apple over Microsoft, given Microsoft’s old foe’s massive success with mobile devices, most notably the iPhone.
And yet, ten years into Nadella’s employment, Microsoft is not only the world’s most valuable public corporation but has also outperformed Apple (and other competitors) during the last decade.
According to the graphic below, Microsoft’s share price has increased by 969 percent since Nadella took office, outpacing Apple’s 923 percent growth and that of Amazon, Meta, and Alphabet.
The S&P 500 index “only” climbed by 173 percent over the last decade, demonstrating how well the technology sector has performed in recent years.
