What you need to know
- Fortune named Satya Nadella as its Businessperson of the Year for 2019.
- Nadella scored points for his unique background and the wide berth he gives his leadership team.
- Under Nadella's leadership, Microsoft has help drive Microsoft's market cap above $1 trillion.
Fortune recently released its Businessperson of the Year rankings for 2019, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took the top spot. Fortune cites Microsoft's break from the company culture of the Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer years, along with success that has lead the company to crack a $1 trillion market cap.
Nadella's ranking comes partially as a result of his willingness to embrace the skills of his leadership team, Fortune says. That team includes Microsoft chief legal officer and president Brad Smith, chief financial officer Amy Hood, and chief people officer Kathleen Hogan.
"It's not that Nadella lacks an ego, and the robust financial results his company has racked up give him undeniable bragging rights," Fortune says. "The company earned $39 billion on revenue of $126 billion in fiscal 2019, while growing revenue at a three-year compound annual rate of 11%."
"CEOs can only do what they do if they have an amazing team," Nadella told Fortune. "I'm blessed to have that."
Fortune says that it initially ranks its contenders based on a set of 10 financial factors, "ranging from total return to shareholders to return on capital." After that, it searches for those leaders who stand out from the pack to compile its final list.
You can check out the full writeup on Nadella, along with the rest of the top ten, at Fortune.
