Microsoft CEO and executive chairman Satya Nadella’s 26-year-old son Zain Nadella has died, the tech giant confirmed in a statement. Zain, who was born with cerebral palsy in 1996, died on Monday morning, Micorsoft told its executive staff in an email, according to a Bloomberg report. 

In the message, Microsoft asked its staff to pray for the family and give them space to grieve. “Zain will be remembered for his eclectic taste in music, his bright sunny smile and the immense joy he brought to his family and all those who loved him,” Jeff Springs, the CEO of Children’s hospital wrote in a message to his Board, which was shared with Microsoft’s staff. 

Who is Satya Nadella?

Satya Nadella is an American business executive who serves as the CEO and executive chairman of Microsoft. Born in Hyderabad on August 19, 1967, Nadella attended the Hyderabad Public School before completing his bachelor’s in electrical engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology in Karnataka in 1988. 

Also Read | Wall Street reels, then recovers after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

He then received his MS in computer science degree from the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee in 1990, before completing his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 1997.

Nadella started his career at Sun Microsystems, a Menlo Park, California-based technology firm that sold computers, computer components, software and IT services, before joining Microsoft in 1992. 

Also Read | A bug-hunting Indian researcher made a million dollars, here’s how

He was appointed as vice president of Microsoft Central in 2000 and got promoted to corporate Vice President of Microsoft Business Solutions the next year. 

His meteoric rise saw him being appointed as senior vice president of Microsoft Online Services, which included Bing as well as early versions of Xbox Live and Microsoft Office, in 2007. 

Also Read | Uber will ‘absolutely’ accept cryptocurrencies in future, says CEO

Nadella then took over as president of the Server and Tools Division in 2011, which oversaw the company’s Azure cloud computing platform. 

He is credited with leading Microsoft into a cloud computing behemoth, which has become one of the company’s major revenue sources. Under Nadella, Microsoft established one of the largest cloud computing infrastructures in the world and generates more revenue than Google.  

The revenue from the division jumped from $16.6 billion before Nadella took over to $20.3 billion in two years. 

He then took over as Microsoft CEO after Steve Balmer stepped down from the role and replaced JW Thompson as chairman in 2021.