Microsoft let each business move on its own clock and made culture the shared rung.

Satya Nadella became chief executive on February 4, 2014. Some foundations were already in place: Steve Ballmer’s 2013 “One Microsoft” reorganization and the end of forced-ranking performance reviews^{9090. Ballmer, S. (2013, July 11). One strategy, one Microsoft [Memo to employees], full text in GeekWire; and The Register (2013, November 12) on the end of stack-ranking reviews.}. Nadella’s first message to employees set the tone: “Our industry does not respect tradition—it only respects innovation.”^{9191. Nadella, S. (2014, February 4). Satya Nadella email to employees on first day as CEO. Microsoft News Center.}

The businesses moved on different clocks. Server software was steered toward Azure, which Nadella had prioritized when it was, in his words, “a cumulative $5 million business.”^{9292. GeekWire. (2016, August 4). Report of a Bloomberg Businessweek interview with Satya Nadella on the “learn-it-all” culture.} Office moved to subscriptions. The phone business was cut back, with an impairment of about $7.6 billion and up to 7,800 jobs in 2015^{9393. Microsoft Corporation. (2015, July 8). Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K: Microsoft announces changes to phone hardware business. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.}. Growth was also bought and integrated: LinkedIn for $26.2 billion and GitHub for $7.5 billion, each keeping its own brand and operating independence^{9494. Microsoft News Center: Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn (2016, June 13); Microsoft to acquire GitHub for $7.5 billion (2018, June 4); OpenAI forms exclusive computing partnership with Microsoft (2019, July 22).}.

Culture was treated as a rung that every unit depended on. The 2015 mission called for “a culture founded in a growth mindset.”^{9595. GeekWire. (2015, June 25). Exclusive: Satya Nadella reveals Microsoft’s new mission statement [full text of the email to employees].} Nadella explained the idea through Carol Dweck’s work on mindset, arguing that “the learn-it-all will always trump the know-it-all in the long run.”^{9292. GeekWire. (2016, August 4). Report of a Bloomberg Businessweek interview with Satya Nadella on the “learn-it-all” culture.} In 2018 engineering was reorganized around cloud and AI, so that no organizational boundary would get in the way of innovation for customers^{9696. Microsoft. (2018, March 29). Satya Nadella email to employees: Embracing our future: Intelligent cloud and intelligent edge. Microsoft News Center.}.

The control system was public. A target of $20 billion in annualized commercial cloud revenue by fiscal 2018 was beaten nine months ahead of schedule^{9797. Microsoft Corporation. Annual reports 2018, 2024 and 2025; Forms 10-K for fiscal 2014, 2025 and 2026; earnings releases (Exhibit 99.1) for fiscal 2014 (2014, July 22), fiscal 2025 (2025, July 30) and fiscal 2026 (2026, July 29). U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.}.

Revenue grew from $86.8 billion in fiscal 2014 to $331.8 billion in fiscal 2026, and operating income from $27.8 billion to $155.2 billion^{9797. Microsoft Corporation. Annual reports 2018, 2024 and 2025; Forms 10-K for fiscal 2014, 2025 and 2026; earnings releases (Exhibit 99.1) for fiscal 2014 (2014, July 22), fiscal 2025 (2025, July 30) and fiscal 2026 (2026, July 29). U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.}. The market value of shares held by non-affiliates rose from $284.5 billion at the end of 2013 to $3.6 trillion at the end of 2025^{9797. Microsoft Corporation. Annual reports 2018, 2024 and 2025; Forms 10-K for fiscal 2014, 2025 and 2026; earnings releases (Exhibit 99.1) for fiscal 2014 (2014, July 22), fiscal 2025 (2025, July 30) and fiscal 2026 (2026, July 29). U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.}.