Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella receives Padma Bhushan, plans to visit India in Jan 2023

Microsoft head Satya Nadella formally received the Padma Bhushan award - the third-highest civilian award in India – from India’s Consul General T.V Nagendra Prasad in San Fransisco, US. Nadella was named one of the 17 awardees earlier this year.

The Hyderabad-born CEO of Microsoft is also planning to visit India in January 2023, after a span of three years.  “It’s an honor to receive a Padma Bhushan Award and to be recognized with so many extraordinary people. I’m thankful to the President, Prime Minister, and people of India, and look forward to continuing to work with people across India to help them use technology to achieve more,” said Nadella after receiving the award.

The Padma Awards are one of the highest civilian honours of India announced annually on the eve of Republic Day. The awards are given in three categories: Padma Vibhushan (for exceptional and distinguished service), Padma Bhushan (distinguished service of higher order) and Padma Shri (distinguished service). The award seeks to recognise achievements in all fields of activities or disciplines where an element of public service is involved.

During his meeting with Prasad, Nadella also discussed the critical role digital technology plays in empowering inclusive growth in India. The discussion focused on India’s growth trajectory and the country’s potential to be a global political and technology leader, according to Microsoft. “We are living in a period of historic economic, societal and technological change,” said Nadella, adding that “the next decade will be defined by digital technology. Indian industries and organisations of every size are turning to technology to help them do more with less, which will ultimately lead to greater innovation, agility and resilience”.

Nadella, 55, was named CEO of Microsoft in February 2014. At that time, the corporation’s market capitalization was around $311 billion. Microsoft is now worth more than $2.26 trillion. Microsoft was among the first companies to exceed a $1 trillion valuation when it hit that milestone in April 2019.

Some of the biggest deals have come during Nadella’s tenure, including the $69 billion Activision deal announced in January 2022, the $26 billion deal for LinkedIn in 2016, and the $20 billion purchase of Nuance Communications in 2021.Moreover, before Nadella assumed the office as the CEO, Microsoft’s commercial cloud business was not part of its key business and was classified under “other” sources of revenue.

Today, its cloud business Microsoft Azure has a cloud market share of 21% and it has increased its revenue by 50% over the previous quarter, and continues to drive growth for the company, as per reports from market research firm Statista in May 2022.

In June 2021, Nadella was also named the company’s Chairman, an additional role in which he will lead the work to set the agenda for the board.Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, Padma Bhushan, Microsoft Azure