--- description: Satya Nadella had previously apologized for his remarks title: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Was 'Completely Wrong' on Women's Pay image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb526176884eb1ca/6987619b428a9e8ec2cc49ce/ap907254303035.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 CEO Says He Was 'Completely Wrong' to Suggest Women Shouldn't Ask for Raises  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 20, 2014 12:40 PM CUT  Satya Nadella in New York, May 20, 2014. Satya Nadella in New York, May 20, 2014.Mark Lennihan—AP  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 20, 2014 12:40 PM CUT Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in [a new interview](http://www.cnbc.com/id/102101302# "undefined") that he was “completely wrong” to suggest it’s “good karma” for women to wait for a raise instead of asking for one. “It’s been a very humbling and learning experience for me,” Nadella told CNBC in his first interview since his initial comments drew outrage. Nadella said anyone held back in their career by gender bias should push back against their managers, and that he had wrongly extrapolated the advice from his own experiences. “I basically took my own approach to how I’ve approached my career and sprung it on half of humanity,” he said. Nadella had previously apologized for his remarks in a letter to the company. “I believe men and women should get equal pay for equal work,” he wrote. “If you think you deserve a raise, you should just ask.” See the interview below. \[[_CNBC_](http://www.cnbc.com/id/102101302# "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3524347/microsoft-satya-nadella-women-raises/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3524347/microsoft-satya-nadella-women-raises/"},"headline":"Microsoft CEO Says He Was 'Completely Wrong' to Suggest Women Shouldn't Ask for Raises","datePublished":"2014-10-20T12:40:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:03:27.248Z","description":"Satya Nadella had previously apologized for his remarks","url":"https://time.com/3524347/microsoft-satya-nadella-women-raises/","keywords":["Living","Tech","women's rights","Microsoft","career"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb526176884eb1ca/6987619b428a9e8ec2cc49ce/ap907254303035.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb526176884eb1ca/6987619b428a9e8ec2cc49ce/ap907254303035.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Satya Nadella","caption":"Satya Nadella","creditText":"Mark Lennihan—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3524347/microsoft-satya-nadella-women-raises/","name":"Microsoft CEO Says He Was 'Completely Wrong' to Suggest Women Shouldn't Ask for Raises"}}]}] ```