If You’d Invested $10,000 in Microsoft the Day Satya Nadella Became CEO, Here’s What You’d Have Now.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) had itself a day on Thursday. Shares of the software giant jumped 15.5% to $451.10 following its fiscal fourth-quarter report. It was the stock’s biggest one-day percentage gain since 2008, and it added about $450 billion of market value in a single session.
The report earned the reaction. The quarter (ended June 30) delivered $90.0 billion of revenue, up 18% year over year. And the star was the cloud. “Azure and other cloud services” revenue climbed 43%, an acceleration from the fiscal third quarter’s 40%.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a “Double Down” signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same “Total Conviction” signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
But one historic Thursday is a strange way to measure this company. To me, the better measurement starts on Feb. 4, 2014, the day Satya Nadella took over as CEO.
So, after a week like this one, what would a $10,000 investment made on Nadella’s first day be worth now?
From $36.35 to $451.10
Microsoft stock closed at $36.35 on the day Nadella became CEO. At Thursday’s close of $451.10, the shares have grown to about 12 times their starting price. That alone turns a $10,000 investment into about $124,000.
And the real result is better. Microsoft has paid a dividend every quarter of Nadella’s tenure, raising its quarterly payout from $0.28 per share when he arrived to $0.91 today (a yield of about 0.8% at the current price). Reinvest each of those payments along the way, and the original $10,000 grows to about $150,000.
For perspective, the S&P 500 roughly quadrupled over the same stretch. The same $10,000 in an index fund, dividends reinvested, would be worth about $52,000. Microsoft delivered nearly three times the market’s result — while being one of the largest companies in the world the entire time.
What did shareholders get for their patience? A different company. In fiscal 2014, the year Nadella arrived, Microsoft’s revenue was $86.8 billion, and Windows still defined the business. In fiscal 2026, which ended in June, revenue was $331.8 billion, with operating income climbing 21% year over year.
Even more telling, Azure (the cloud computing platform Nadella bet the company on) crossed $100 billion of annual revenue for the first time. The cloud business alone now brings in more revenue in a year than the entire company did when he started.
“Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for the first time, and Microsoft 365 Copilot reached over 30 million paid seats,” Nadella said in the company’s fourth-quarter earnings release.
