Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute Honors Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella with Legend in Leadership Award   

New Haven, CT – December 13, 2022 – Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella will receive the Yale Legend in Leadership Award at the Yale CEO Summit December 14. The award, conferred by the unanimous vote of representatives of Yale and past award winners, will be presented by Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO of IBM; and Alex Gorsky, Executive Chairman of Johnson & Johnson.

Summit organizer Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean for leadership studies at the Yale School of Management, commented: “Satya Nadella is one of the most admired technology visionaries in business today. He has boldly, brilliantly led a transformation of Microsoft which has renewed and reignited Microsoft’s culture of innovation and growth. On top of this, Satya Nadella has defined Microsoft’s success by the company’s ability to drive surplus in every community where the company operates and ensure that it’s helping to drive a more trusted, inclusive, equitable, sustainable future – including commitments to become carbon negative, water positive, and zero waste by 2030.

On a personal level, Nadella has advanced degrees in electrical engineering and computer science. He is a genuine technologist who brings technical heft to his corporate leadership. I am honored to recognize this technology pioneer and personal inspiration with the Yale Legend in Leadership award”.

Satya Nadella is Chairman and CEO of Microsoft. Before being named CEO in February 2014, Nadella held key leadership roles in both enterprise and consumer businesses across the company. Joining Microsoft in 1992, he quickly became known as a leader who could span a breadth of technologies and businesses to transform some of Microsoft’s biggest product offerings.

Most recently, Nadella was Executive Vice President of Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise Group. In this role, he led the transformation to the cloud infrastructure and services business, which outperformed the market and took share from competition. Previously, Nadella led R&D for the Online Services Division and was vice president of the Microsoft Business Division. Before joining Microsoft, Nadella was a member of the technology staff at Sun Microsystems.

Originally from Hyderabad, India, Nadella lives in Bellevue, Washington, with his family. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Mangalore University, a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago. Nadella serves on the board of trustees to his alma mater the University of Chicago, as well as the Starbucks Board of Directors.

The Legend in Leadership Award was created 25 years ago to honor current and former CEOs who serve as living legends to inspire chief executives across industries, sectors, and nations. Past recipients include: Darius Adamczyk, CEO of Honeywell; Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine; Doug Parker, Chairman of American Airlines; Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer; Alex Gorsky, CEO of Johnson & Johnson; Lynn Good, CEO, Duke Energy; Lisa Su, CEO, AMD; Anthony Fauci, M.D., Director of the NIAID; Doug McMillon, CEO, Walmart; Arne Sorenson, CEO, Marriott International; Andrew J. Young, Mayor (1982-1990), Atlanta, Georgia, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (1977-1979); Brian C. Cornell, Chair and CEO, Target Corporation; Doug McMillan, President and CEO, Walmart; Ivan G. Seidenberg, Chair and CEO, Verizon Communications; Ken Frazier, Chair and CEO, Merck & Co.; Randall L. Stephenson, Chairman and CEO, AT&T; Colin Powell, retired four-star U.S. Army General, chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989–93), and 65th U.S. Secretary of State (2001–05); Virginia M. (Ginni) Rometty, Chairman, President, and CEO, IBM Corporation; Janet Yellen, United States Secretary of the Treasury; Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever PLC; Mary T. Barra, Chairman and Chief Executive of General Motors Company; Brian Moynihan, Chairman and CEO, Bank of America; David M. Rubenstein, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Chairman, The Carlyle Group; Leonard S. Schleifer, President and CEO, and George D. Yancopoulos, President and Chief Scientific Officer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals; Brian Roberts, CEO, Comcast; Marillyn Hewson, CEO, Lockheed Martin; Jamie Dimon, CEO, JPMorgan Chase; and Ken Chenault, Chair and CEO, American Express.

The Summit theme is “Is Coming Home Again Smart of Even Possible? Global Markets and Self Reliance.”

Among those top leaders participating are the CEOs and leaders from: Pfizer; Honeywell; Goldman Sachs; Marsh McLennan; Paramount;  Paul Weiss; Johnson & Johnson; Yum Brands; Kroger; Anheuser-Busch InBev; IBM; Microsoft; AMC; 1-800-Flowers; Xerox; eBay; Ethereum; Ethan Allen; Snap-on; and Bausch Health.

Our leadership partners include:  AlixPartners, Deloitte, Evercore, Gladstone Place Partners, Heidrick & Struggles, IBM, NewsGuard, Paul Weiss, Stagwell, and UPS. 

Media contact:
Jessica Helton
Phone: (203) 432-6160
Email: jessica.helton@yale.edu