Who is the current CEO of Microsoft Corporation?

The current CEO of Microsoft Corporation is Brad Smith, who has served since 2015.

Who was the first CEO of Microsoft Corporation?

Bill Gates was among the earliest leaders of Microsoft Corporation, serving from 1975 to 2000.

How many CEOs has Microsoft Corporation had?

Microsoft Corporation has had 5 documented leaders in its history.

Who was the longest-serving CEO of Microsoft Corporation?

Bill Gates is the longest-serving leader of Microsoft Corporation, with a tenure of approximately 25 years (1975–2000).

How long has Brad Smith been CEO of Microsoft Corporation?

Brad Smith has been CEO of Microsoft Corporation since 2015, a tenure of approximately 11 years.

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Microsoft Corporation

SoftwareFounded 1975- Updated June 2026

Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya

Last reviewed: June 2026

Content is for informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Data sourced from SEC filings, annual reports, and public records. See our full disclaimer and methodology.

CorpDigest

Search brand historiesSearchK Contact

Microsoft Corporation

SoftwareFounded 1975- Updated June 2026

Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya

Last reviewed: June 2026

Leadership History

Microsoft Corporation: CEO History

5 leaders · 1975 to present

Last reviewed: 2026-06-03 · By Swet Parvadiya

Company Overview

Microsoft Corporation was founded in 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico (later relocated to Redmond, Washington) by Bill Gates and Paul Allen to write programming languages for early microcomputers. The company operates in software, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence and is led by CEO Satya Nadella (since February 2014). Revenue model: Microsoft earns from cloud infrastructure and platform services (Azure), productivity subscriptions (Microsoft 365), enterprise applications (Dynamics 365, LinkedIn), gaming (Xbox, Activision Blizzard, Game Pass), Windows OEM licensing, search advertising (Bing), developer tools (GitHub, VS Code), and security products. The model is predominantly subscription and consumption-based, creating highly predictable recurring revenue. Microsoft reported $281.7B in FY2025 revenue (up 15%) with $101.8B net income (36% margin). Q3 FY2026 showed accelerating growth: revenue $82.9B (up 18%), Microsoft Cloud $54.5B (up 29%), AI business up 123% YoY, EPS $4.27 (up 23%). Trailing twelve-month revenue is $318.3B. Commercial remaining performance obligation reached $627B (up 99% YoY). Market capitalization is approximately $3.13 trillion (NASDAQ: MSFT). The company employs approximately 228,000 people. Competitive position: Microsoft's advantage is the most comprehensive enterprise technology platform in the world — Azure + Microsoft 365 + Entra identity + Defender security + GitHub + LinkedIn + Dynamics + Copilot AI — creating switching costs, data gravity, and procurement simplicity that point-solution competitors cannot match. The exclusive OpenAI cloud partnership provides unique AI differentiation. Strategic direction: Embedding AI Copilots across every enterprise product, scaling Azure AI infrastructure ($80B+ annual capex), growing the $627B commercial backlog, expanding gaming through Activision Blizzard content, and maintaining the enterprise platform lock-in that makes Microsoft the default choice for corporate IT.

Brad Smith

President and Vice Chair

2015 – Present

11 years (current)

Key Decisions & Impact

Brad Smith has shaped Microsoft's public policy, legal, regulatory, and trust posture during an era when technology companies face scrutiny over antitrust, privacy, cybersecurity, AI, labor, and national security. His work has included negotiating regulatory commitments, representing Microsoft in government debates, and framing the company as a responsible infrastructure provider rather than merely a software vendor. That role became especially important during the Activision Blizzard review process and the rise of AI regulation. The measurable outcome is not a single product metric; it is Microsoft's ability to keep operating and acquiring at global scale while maintaining relationships with governments and large regulated customers.

Satya Nadella

CEO

2014 – Present

12 years (current)

Key Decisions & Impact

Satya Nadella's era is defined by the decision to stop making Windows the center of every strategy. He pushed Azure as the core growth platform, embraced Linux and open source, made Microsoft 365 a subscription engine, acquired LinkedIn and GitHub, and placed Microsoft at the center of generative AI through the OpenAI partnership and Copilot rollout. He also expanded gaming through ZeniMax and Activision Blizzard. The measurable outcome has been a dramatic rise in revenue, profit, and market value, plus a restored developer reputation. The unresolved test is whether AI infrastructure spending produces returns that match the market's expectations.

Amy Hood

CFO

2013 – Present

13 years (current)

Key Decisions & Impact

Amy Hood helped reshape Microsoft into a more disciplined recurring-revenue and capital-allocation machine. As CFO, she supported the shift from license cycles to cloud subscriptions, funded major acquisitions such as LinkedIn, GitHub, Nuance, and Activision Blizzard, and maintained valuation support through a period of heavy AI and cloud infrastructure spending. Hood's decisions matter because Microsoft's transformation required both product strategy and financial translation. The measurable outcome is visible in the company's FY2025 profile: $281.7B in revenue, $101.8B in net income, large shareholder returns, and continued willingness to invest aggressively in data centers and AI capacity.

Steve Ballmer

CEO

2000 – 2014

14 years

Key Decisions & Impact

Steve Ballmer led Microsoft through the post-PC transition, and his record is more mixed than the usual caricature suggests. He expanded enterprise software, Windows Server, SQL Server, SharePoint, and the commercial sales engine that later helped Azure scale. He also backed Xbox, turning Microsoft into a durable gaming platform owner. The weaknesses were severe: Microsoft missed the smartphone platform shift, Internet Explorer lost developer trust, and the Nokia handset deal failed to rescue Windows Phone. During his tenure, revenue increased substantially, but Microsoft's valuation and innovation reputation lagged faster-moving consumer and mobile rivals.

Bill Gates

Co-founder and CEO

1975 – 2000

25 years

Key Decisions & Impact

Bill Gates led Microsoft through the era that created its core licensing economics. His most important decisions included commercializing Altair BASIC, retaining MS-DOS licensing rights beyond IBM, pushing Windows as the standard PC operating environment, and building Office into a bundled productivity suite. Gates also shaped Microsoft's aggressive competitive posture, which drove scale but triggered antitrust scrutiny. The measurable outcome was extraordinary: Microsoft went public in 1986, Windows became the dominant desktop operating system, Office became a corporate standard, and the company entered the 2000s as the defining software platform owner of the PC era.

Challenges & Strategic Context

The $80 billion question — literally. Microsoft is spending over $80 billion annually on capital expenditures, mostly data centers and AI chips. That's not a typo, and it's not sustainable unless AI revenue scales proportionally. If enterprise Copilot adoption stalls, or if customers decide they can get 80% of the AI value from cheaper open-source models running on commodity hardware, Microsoft will have built the world's most expensive white elephant.

The security problem is more corrosive than most investors appreciate. The 2023 Storm-0558 breach — where Chinese hackers accessed U.S. Government emails through Microsoft's cloud infrastructure — wasn't just embarrassing. The Cyber Safety Review Board's subsequent report was scathing. When your pitch to enterprises is "consolidate everything with us," a single security failure undermines the entire value proposition. CISOs are now asking whether concentration risk with Microsoft is itself a vulnerability.

Content is for informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Data sourced from SEC filings, annual reports, and public records. See our full disclaimer and methodology.

Leadership History

Microsoft Corporation: CEO History

5 leaders · 1975 to present

Last reviewed: 2026-06-03 · By Swet Parvadiya

Company Overview

Brad Smith

President and Vice Chair

2015 – Present

11 years (current)

Key Decisions & Impact

Satya Nadella

CEO

2014 – Present

12 years (current)

Key Decisions & Impact

Amy Hood

CFO

2013 – Present

13 years (current)

Key Decisions & Impact

Steve Ballmer

CEO

2000 – 2014

14 years

Key Decisions & Impact

Bill Gates

Co-founder and CEO

1975 – 2000

25 years