New Microsoft CEO Nadella could earn FOURTEEN TIMES what Ballmer banked in 2013 Newly minted Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's salary nearly doubled on his first day in the corner office, giving him a pay package even larger than that of outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer. Nadella will earn an even $1.2m in his first year on the job, according to documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on …
I say good luck to the guy if he can rip them off for that kind of money.
He's got a devil of a job on his hands though.
He could make an immediate impact by just telling all of his underlings "hey - why don't we just listen to what our customers are saying this time?".
Of course it would take a lot more than just "listening".
Listening to your customers is the worst thing you can do in technology.
Now I know you're thinking "WHAT? how can that be?".
Simple reason why. If it takes you 18 to 24 months to build what they want then you'll never give them what they want, just what they wanted 2 years ago.
It is the job of a technology company to predict the future. This is why Microsoft is an "also ran" in so many markets.
I've come to the conclusion that the best tech company leaders were those that built up a company from scratch.
Anyone that's just worked their way through various companies, getting a slightly higher position each time isn't really as good.
Of course that theory tends to fall slightly flat when it comes to Alan Sugar, but he was innovative in the early days. Although even though his hifi stuff was successful it was cheapo.
"I've come to the conclusion that the best tech company leaders were those that built up a company from scratch."
The leadership that is required to bootstrap a company to a few $M is typically not the leadership you need to take it to $G.
The hard part is for the company leader to see that the company has now outgrown their strengths and put the company in new hands. Far too many try to keep their oar in, wrecking the process.
That is what BillG did. He didn't look for a fresh new leader. He handed control to his buddy Ballmer and kept steering the company from chairman. Now BillG remains on the board as technical whatever, so he's still trying to keep MS in a path of his making.
I've worked with a few companies that transitioned well, but there was normally some pain. In the end there is normally a huge fight and the ex-leader cashes in all his stock and leaves the company of his making entirely.
All the sums you mention are peanuts in the context of Microsoft's cash flow and income figures. No doubt Mr Nadella will get the vast bulk of his remuneration in the form of stock options or the like.
Bill Gates didn't amass $70 billion or more by saving up his salary. And Steve Jobs was not impoverished when he dramatically cut his salary to $1.
He'd be best off throwing Balmers vision in the bin and get back to the serious business of being an Enterprise provider.
They've missed the boat on devices by quite some way. So much that boats aren't really a thing anymore, they just exist, everyone already has a boat and are fine with it, and there's not much more people want from their boats.
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