Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella appeared at the code 2021 conference to discuss a wide range of topics from Microsoft’s stand on Texas abortion laws to the company’s future work from home policy, but one of the most interesting parts was definitely about the TikTok saga, which he called the strangest thing he’s ever worked on.
In case you don’t know, Microsoft came close to buying the app’s operations in the US as well as some other international markets because of former president Donald Trump’s stance on the app with regards to security and privacy concerns. At the end, the app sold the operations to Oracle and Walmart. In the interview, Nadella stressed that it was actually TikTok who approached Microsoft first and not the other way around. Nevertheless, Nadella admitted he was pretty intrigued by the proposition and explained the company’s reasoning by reminding the audience about Microsoft’s work in the cloud security field and the social networking domain, where they own LinkedIn.
Satya also talked about the main acquisitions he made as Microsoft’s CEO, and name checked 3; LinkedIn, Minecraft, and GitHub. Those 3 companies helped Microsoft develop and grow in different directions while creating new communities specifically tied to those purchases.
When asked about giving advice to some new CEOs on the block, Satya explained that when he criticizes something Microsoft has done, he actually criticizes himself rather than someone else inside the leadership team, and that when he got the job after Steve Ballmer, Steve and him sat for a meeting where he was told about all the mistakes Steve made rather than all of the good things that came out of Microsoft in that time, in order to benefit the company.
When I heard the Satya Nadella interview, I found myself hooked for the whole time because of what I feel are very candid answers to most of the interviewer question, and how passionate he was when talked about all the different parts of his organization. I truly feel that I have learned new and interesting things about the mindset and the thought process of a CEO of a successful company.
