Signs of relief for software major, Microsoft, have finally started showing up. Satya Nadella, ( keeping aside his women at work related remarks ), in a short span of time, has taken Microsoft to greater levels, at least better than what it had become during Ballmer’s reign.
As a result, Microsoft, with a total market value above US$410 Billion on Friday, has left behind Oil-major Exxon, in the race to become world’s second most valuable company. Exxon’s market value dipped to US$404 Billion, due to the ever-weakening crude oil prices.
Under Satya Nadella, not only did Microsoft overcome its tag of a “clumsy behemoth unable to adapt to new-age tech”, it has also been able to show, that it is ready to take brave decisions, if the need be. For example, cutting jobs, and restructuring the executive board, were some of the major decisions, which Nadella took, as soon as he became CEO.
Moreover, Microsoft’s recent user-friendly decisions, like opening up Office for free, and more developer-friendly ones like open-sourcing the entire core stack of .NET framework, has helped company regain its lost respect among developers and users alike.
Nadella also took care of the fact that Microsoft’s Nokia acquisition, which was handled by Ballmer, didn’t just lie around. He quickly renamed the Nokia Lumia brand to Microsoft Lumia, and launched a new device with that branding. This was a move, aimed at telling the world, that Microsoft isn’t just shopping companies around for fun.
With Nadella as the head, Microsoft has also shown more focus towards acquiring start-ups. It recently acquired Israel based Aorato, which will significantly help in boosting security for its OneDrive for Business. It has also signed a letter of Intent (LOI) with another Israel based start-up which specialises in Text-analysis, Equivio.
As for the valuation, Microsoft is now behind Apple, which is valued at a staggering US$661 Billion. This valuation is even more than Microsoft’s peak valuation of US$616 Billion (approx.) which it achieved way back in December, 1999 Nevertheless, Microsoft’s stock hit $50.04 on Friday, its highest point since early 2000, before slipping to the $49.50 range in afternoon trading.
