Before becoming Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella faced the 'One rejection' Indian students fear most

Satya Nadella's journey to becoming the CEO of Microsoft, a company now valued at $3.54 trillion, began with a setback: he didn't get into the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT). This rejection, a common fear among Indian students, redirected him to the Manipal Institute of Technology.

Nadella has described IIT as a “holy grail” for middle-class students in India, acknowledging the intense pressure to gain admission. While his initial ambition as a teenager in Hyderabad revolved around cricket and banking, he later realized that not getting into IIT opened doors to opportunities he hadn't considered.

After studying electrical engineering at Manipal, Nadella pursued a master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and an MBA at the University of Chicago. He recalled experiencing culture shock and homesickness upon arriving in the US, along with the challenge of proving himself in a new environment. He jokingly mentioned his initial inability to locate Milwaukee on a map. These experiences, however, proved invaluable in developing the adaptability that would later define his leadership style.

Nadella joined Microsoft in 1992, following a stint at Sun Microsystems. Over the next two decades, he steadily advanced within the company, eventually becoming CEO in 2014. Taking the helm during a period of intense competition from companies like Apple, Google, and Amazon, Nadella spearheaded Microsoft's reinvention. He has often expressed gratitude for the opportunities he found in America, where he felt he was given a chance to prove himself based on his abilities, rather than being limited by the prestige of the schools he attended.