--- description: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told women not to ask for a raise. Karma will do it for them. title: Microsoft's CEO Basically Told Women It's Bad Karma To Ask For A Raise image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdf892f101b36b069/69875fd33c1639aafc44ef0d/456074338.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Living](/tag/time-section-living/) ## Living Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Microsoft's CEO Tells Women It's Bad Karma to Ask For a Raise by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 9, 2014 11:35 PM CUT  CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella gives a lecture about dream, struggle and creation at Tsinghua University CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella gives a lecture about dream, struggle and creation at Tsinghua UniversityChinaFotoPress—ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 9, 2014 11:35 PM CUT **Updated Friday, Oct. 10** [Gender pay gap](http://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/ "undefined") got you down? Take a crash course from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s Etiquette Academy For Polite Young Ladies: Smile pretty and don’t be so unbecoming as to ask for a salary bump. After all, a raise is a lot like a male suitor, and if you pursue it, you might just drive it away. “It’s not really about asking for a raise, but knowing and having faith that the system will give you the right raise,” [_Read Write_ reports](http://readwrite.com/2014/10/09/nadella-women-dont-ask-for-raise "undefined") Nadella said Thursday at an event meant to celebrate women in the tech field. Late Thursday night, Nadella [backtracked on his comments.](http://time.com/3489858/microsoft-ceo-women-raises/ "undefined") Unfortunately, that system that Nadella wants women to put all their blind trust in only provides them with [78 cents to the dollar of what men earn](http://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/ "undefined"). And if we look closer at the women Nadella was specifically addressing, the reality is fairly grim: a gender pay gap [exists on every level of STEM jobs](http://www.aauw.org/2013/04/05/three-reasons-the-wage-gap-hurts-women-in-stem/ "undefined"). In Silicon Valley, men with bachelor’s degrees earn 40% more than their female educational counterparts, according to an analysis of [Census Data from the 2014 Silicon Valley Index](http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/02/12/3282881/silicon-valley-wage-gap/ "undefined"). Of those with graduate or professional degrees, men earn 73% more than women. And that’s actually cause for celebration, since it’s a marked improvement from 2010, when that same demographic of men reportedly earned 97% more than women. But take Nadella’s word for it: Good things come to women who _don’t_ ask. “That might be one of the initial ‘super powers’ that, quite frankly, women \[who\] don’t ask for a raise have,” he added. “It’s good karma. It will come back.” Whatever the mystical inner workings of the human resources department at Microsoft may be, it’s a fact that other, less spiritually “enlightened” companies have been known to take advantage of the assumption that women are paid less. At an Australian tech conference in September, millionaire startup founder Evan Thornley unironically said that a perk of hiring women is that [their salary is still](http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-22/tech-start-up-founder-says-women-are-like-men-only-cheaper "undefined") “relatively cheap compared to what we would’ve had to pay someone less good of a different gender.” (Since there are only two genders, that means “someone less good who was a man.”) Just in case the audience couldn’t hear him in the way back of the room, Thornley drove the point home by showing a slide titled “Lessons” that displayed a photo of two businesswomen high-fiving under the text, “Women: Like men, only cheaper.” Classy. Since Nadella’s comments were shared and appropriately lambasted all over the Internet, the Microsoft head has tweeted that he did not properly articulate his own message. > [](http://twitter.com/satyanadella/status/520311425726566400) But Nadella should know: He doesn’t need to ask us for our forgiveness and understanding about what he really meant to say. Karma will work that out. **See Also:** [Watch Sarah Silverman’s Risque Equal-Pay Ad](http://time.com/3481632/sarah-silverman-equal-pay-ad/ "undefined") ### Here's What 20 Famous Women Think About Feminism  "People have sorely messed up the definition of feminism. It isn’t saying this is wrong and this is right," said Chrissy Teigen during a Variety event in 2014, adding that husband John Legend also identifies: "He’s a bigger feminist than I am! He actually teaches me a lot about the way women should be perceived." D Dipasupil—Getty Images for Extra  The Twilight actress reacted to women rejecting feminism during a Daily Beast interview in October: "That’s such a strange thing to say, isn’t it? Like, what do you mean? Do you not believe in equality for men and women? I think it’s a response to overly-aggressive types." Loic Venance—AFP/Getty Images  "I decided I was a feminist and this seemed uncomplicated to me," said Emma Watson at a UN Women speech in September. "Men-- I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation. Gender Equality is your issue, too." Anthony Harvey—Getty Images  “I would say on some levels I am \[a feminist\]. Angela Davis is one of my heroes,” Halle Berry told Ebony in April. “And Gloria Steinem—these are people who, as I was growing, I was moved by and impacted by and thought very deeply about.” Joe Scarnici—Getty Images  "I don’t think of myself as being a feminist,” Sinead O'Connor told The Guardian in July. “I wouldn’t label myself anything, certainly not something with an ‘ism’ or an ‘ist’ at the end of it. I’m not interested in anything that is in any way excluding of men.” Jason Kempin—Getty Images  "I wouldn’t say \[I'm a\] feminist, that’s too strong. I think when people hear feminist it’s just like, ‘Get out of my way I don’t need anyone,’” Kelly Clarkson told TIME last year. “I love that I’m being taken care of, and I have a man that’s an actual leader. I’m not a feminist in that sense … but I’ve worked really hard since I was 19." Christopher Polk—Getty Images  Leighton Meester told OOTD magazine in February about her biggest role model. "American writer Betty Friedan — she fought for gender equality and wrote the great book The Feminine Mystique which sparked the beginning of a second-wave feminism,” Meester said. “I believe in equal rights for men and women.” D Dipasupil—FilmMagic  “I don’t know why people are so reluctant to say they’re feminists," Ellen Page told The Guardian in 2013\. "Maybe some women just don’t care. But how could it be any more obvious that we still live in a patriarchal world when feminism is a bad word?” Dave Kotinsky—Getty Images  "For me, the issue of feminism is just not an interesting concept,” Lana Del Rey told Fader magazine in their summer 2014 issue. “I’m more interested in, you know, SpaceX and Tesla, what’s going to happen with our intergalactic possibilities." (Tabatha Fireman—Redferns/Getty Images)  “I would \[call myself a feminist\], yes.” Rashida Jones said in 2013\. “I believe in the unadulterated advancement of women. And we have so far to go still.” Christopher Polk—NBC/Getty Images  “Am I a feminist? F–k yeah, I’m a feminist,” Jenny Slate told MTV News in June. “I think that unfortunately people who are maybe threatened by feminism think that it’s about setting your bra on fire and being aggressive, and I think that’s really wrong and really dangerous.” Jason Kempin—Getty Images  "A feminist? Um, yeah, actually,” Katy Perry told an Australian radio host in March. “I used to not really understand what that word meant, and now that I do, it just means that I love myself as a female and I also love men.” Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty Images  Amy Poehler says she's confused by how many women deny that they're feminists, “but then they go on to explain what they support and live by — it’s feminism exactly,” she told Elle magazine in January. "That’s like someone being like, ‘I don’t really believe in cars, but I drive one every day and I love that it gets me places and makes life so much easier and faster and I don’t know what I would do without it.’” Jason Kempin—NBC/Getty Images  "We need to stop buying into the myth about gender equality. It isn’t a reality yet," Beyonce wrote in an essay titled "Gender Equality is a Myth" in January. She also famously included an excerpt from Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TEDx talk in her song, "Flawless." Myrna Suarez—WireImage  “I feel like I’m one of the biggest feminists in the world because I tell women to not be scared of anything,” Miley Cyrus told the BBC last November. Julio Cesar Aguilar—AFP/Getty Images  "I wish when I was 12-years-old I had been able to watch a video of my favorite actress explaining in such an intellectual, beautiful, poignant way the definition of feminism."Taylor Swift said in reaction to Emma Watson's speech at the UN in September. "Because I would have understood it. And then earlier on in my life I would have proudly claimed I was a feminist because I would have understood what the word means." Isaac Brekken—Getty Images  “Women saying ‘I’m not a feminist’ is my greatest pet peeve,” Lena Dunham told Metro in 2013\. “Do you believe that women should be paid the same for doing the same jobs? Do you believe that women should be allowed to leave the house? Do you think that women and men both deserve equal rights? Great, then you’re a feminist.” Michael Buckner—Getty Images  "No, because I love men," was Shailene Woodley's response when TIME asked her whether she considered herself a feminist in May. "I think the idea of ‘raise women to power, take the men away from the power’ is never going to work out because you need balance…My biggest thing is really sisterhood more than feminism.” Dave J Hogan—Getty Images  “I’m getting the sense that you’re a little bit of a feminist, like I am, which is good,” Lady Gaga told the LA Times in 2009\. “I find that men get away with saying a lot in this business, and that women get away with saying very little . . . In my opinion, women need and want someone to look up to that they feel have the full sense of who they are, and says, ‘I’m great.’ “ Kevin Mazur—WireImage  “\[Feminism\] means being proud of being a woman, and \[having\] love, respect and admiration and the belief in our strong capacities,” Salma Hayek told Stylist in 2012\. “I don’t think we are the same, women and men. We’re different. But I don’t think we are less than men. There are more women than men in the world – ask any single woman! So it is shocking that men are in more positions of power.” Traverso—L'Oreal/Getty Images  Children yell to players after a game between the New York Mets and Houston Astros at Citi Field on September 28, 2014 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. 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