‘My IAS father, Sanskrit prof mother were… ’: Indian-born Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recalls childhood

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was born in 1967 in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, to an IAS official father and a Sanskrit professor mother. After finishing schooling from the prestigious Hyderabad Public School, Nadella pursued an electrical engineering degree at the Manipal Institute of Technology. Later, he relocated to the United States to fulfil his master's degree in computer science.

India-born Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella revealed in an interview that he was never interested in education and instead enjoyed spending his time playing cricket. In a recent conversation with LinkedIn's Ryan Roslansky, the company's chief executive officer recalled how he spent his childhood in the country.

Satya Nadella, chief executive officer, Microsoft.(AP File Photo)

"My parents played a massive role in who I am today," Nadella recounted. "My father was a civil servant, an economist, and my mother was a Sanskrit professor. They were exact opposites of each other in some sense, they could not agree on anything, except giving me lots of room and a lot of confidence to become my own person, pursue my own passions."

The CEO of Microsoft, the company best known for its computer-related products, mentioned that while growing up in India's middle class was difficult, he recalls vividly the first time he used a computer. "One of the interesting things I distinctly remember is American technology. I remember the first I started using a computer. It was the malleability of software that got me hooked."

Satya Nadella was born in 1967 in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, to father who was an IAS official and Sanskrit professor. Nadella attended an electrical engineering course at the Manipal Institute of Technology after completing his schooling at the prestigious Hyderabad Public School. He later moved to the United States to pursue his master's degree in computer science.

Nadella began his professional career with a brief stint at Sun Microsystems, then joined Microsoft in 1992, kicking off a 30-year career that has led to his current position as CEO.