Microsoft CEO Signs Book Deal

Microsoft Corp. CEO Satya Nadella has signed a deal to write his first book. "Hit Refresh" will focus, in part, on his journey leading Microsoft through the transition from troubled tech giant to industry thought leader.

In a conversation with author Walter Isaacson at the Aspen Ideas Festival on Wednesday, Mr. Nadella described the book as the "mediations of somebody who is a sitting CEO of a company going through a pretty cathartic transformation." He added that he aimed to write about that transition "as I'm going through it."

The book won't be a memoir, Mr. Nadella said. He aims to provide a guide to the shifts that Microsoft employees, customers and partners themselves might make.

The book will be published in fall 2017 by Harper Business, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, owned by News Corp, which also owns The Wall Street Journal.

The publisher described the book in a press release as following three story lines: Mr. Nadella's personal journey, the change that Microsoft is undergoing, and the shift in society that is coming as "intelligent machines" become ubiquitous.

Mr. Nadella, a cerebral CEO, will write about how "human qualities like empathy will become more valuable in a world where the torrent of technology will disrupt like never before," according to the press release.

Mr. Nadella became Microsoft CEO in February 2014 as the company wrestled with strategic missteps in both mobile computing and internet search technology. He has shifted the company's focus to cloud computing, helping it step into a new era of information technology.

He isn't the first Microsoft CEO to write a book. The company's co-founder and former chief executive Bill Gates has published two, "The Road Ahead" and "Business@ the Speed of Thought."

Harper Business said that proceeds from Mr. Nadella's book will be donated to Microsoft Philanthropies to benefit nonprofits.

Write to Jay Greene at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 30, 2016 07:35 ET (11:35 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.