Zain Nadella, son of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and his wife Anu Nadella, has passed away at the age of 26, according to media reports.
The tech giant reportedly informed its executive staff in an email that Zain, who had been born with cerebral palsy, passed away on Monday morning.
The statement also requested executives to keep the family in their thoughts and prayers while giving them space to grieve privately, according to reports.
"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," Jeff Sperring, CEO of Children's Hospital, wrote in a message to his Board, which was shared with Microsoft executives.
Back in October 2017, Satya Nadella shared the challenges he and his wife faced during the birth of his son in a blog post. "One night, during the thirty-sixth week of her pregnancy, Anu 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," Nadella had written.
"We thought it would be just a routine checkup, little more than new parent anxiety. In fact, I distinctly remember feeling annoyed by the wait times we experienced in the emergency room. But upon examination, the doctors were alarmed enough to order an emergency cesarean section," he added.
The CEO mentioned that Zain was born at 11:29 pm on August 13, 1996, weighed three pounds and that he did not cry.
"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. Anu began her recovery from the difficult birth. I spent the night with her in the hospital and immediately went to see Zain the next morning. Little did I know then how profoundly our lives would change," Nadella said.
"Over the course of the next couple of years, we 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.
Following the revelation, Satya took up the role of CEO of Microsoft in 2014, after which he focused on designing products to better serve users with disabilities. He also cited lessons he learned while raising and supporting Zain.
What's more, the Children's Hospital, where Zain received much of his treatment, joined hands with the Nadellas to establish the 'Zain Nadella Endowed Chair in Pediatric Neurosciences', as part of Seattle Children's Center for Integrative Brain Research in 2021.