Microsoft Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Satya Nadella’s son, Zain Nadella, passed away on Monday at the age of 26. He was born with cerebral palsy (a congenital disorder of movement, muscle tone or posture).Microsoft informed its executive staff about the tragic news in an email. “Hold the family in your thoughts and prayers while giving them space to grieve privately,” it stated.
Jeff Sperring, CEO of Children’s Hospital, said, “Zain will be remembered for his eclectic taste in music, his bright sunny smile and the immense joy he brought to his family and all those who loved him. Sperring wrote the message to his Board, which was shared with Microsoft executives.
‘The moment that forever changed our lives’
Nadella had opened up about the birth of Zain in a blog post titled ‘The moment that forever changed our lives’ on October 21, 2017.
“I remember the year 1996 as a thrilling time. My wife, Anu, was 25 and I was 29. My career as an engineer was taking off, while she was building her career as an architect. We were far from our families in India, but settling into our new life together in the Seattle area. Even more exciting, however, was that Anu was pregnant with our first child,” he wrote.
Nadella added that the couple was ready to add a new joy to their life but their “plans changed”.
He went on to share how Anu, during the thirty-sixth week of her pregnancy, noticed that the baby was not moving as much as she was accustomed to. So we went to the emergency room of a local hospital in Bellevue.
“The doctors were alarmed enough to order an emergency cesarean section. Zain was born at 11:29 p.m. on August 13, 1996, all of three pounds. He did not cry,” Nadella added.
Zain was transported from the hospital in Bellevue across Lake Washington to Seattle Children’s Hospital with its state-of-the-art Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Nadella had spent the night with his wife in the hospital and immediately went to see Zain the next morning. Over the course of the next couple of years, they learned more about the damage caused by in utero asphyxiation, and how Zain would require a wheelchair and be reliant on us because of severe cerebral palsy.
“I was devastated. But mostly I was sad for how things turned out for me and Anu,” he added.
Narrating a great deal of ordeal, Nadella highlighted that he is an optimistic person adding, “Zain reminds me that we can get there. He is the joy of our family, whose strength and warmth both inspire and motivate me to keep pushing the boundaries of what technology can do.”
