Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's son Zain Nadella passed away

Zain Nadella, the son of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and his wife Anu, died early Monday morning, according to the company. He was 26 years old and had cerebral palsy from birth.

In an email, the software company informed its top personnel that Zain had died. Executives were requested to keep the family in their thoughts and prayers while providing them space to grieve privately, according to the message.

Nadella has focused the company on building products to better serve users with disabilities since taking over as CEO in 2014, citing lessons he learnt while raising and supporting Zain. Last year, the Seattle Children’s Hospital collaborated with the Nadellas to create the Zain Nadella Endowed Chair in Pediatric Neurosciences, which is part of the Seattle Children’s Center for Integrative Brain Research.

“Zain will be remembered for his eclectic taste in music, his brilliant sunny grin, and the enormous joy he provided to his family and all those who loved him,” Children’s Hospital CEO Jeff Sperring wrote in a message to his Board that was shared with Microsoft officials.

Zain has cerebral palsy and was born with it. Satya Nadella wrote a blog post in October 2017 announcing the birth of his son.

“During the 36th week of her pregnancy, Anu realised that the baby was not moving as much as she was used to. So we went to a local Bellevue hospital’s emergency room. We expected it to be nothing more than a routine checkup, nothing more than new parent anxiety.

In fact, I recall being irritated by the length of time we had to wait in the emergency room. However, after further investigation, the doctors were sufficiently concerned to order an arthroscopic procedure. Zain was born on August 13, 1996, at 11:29 p.m., weighing only three pounds. He didn’t cry at all “he said

“Zain was flown across Lake Washington from a Bellevue hospital to Seattle Children’s Hospital, which has a state-of-the-art Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Anu started her recovery from the traumatic birth. I stayed with her at the hospital the night before going to see Zain the next morning. I had no idea how drastically our lives would change at the time. We learned more about the effects of in utero asphyxiation over the next few years, as well as how Zain’s severe cerebral palsy would compel him to use a wheelchair and rely on us. I was heartbroken. But I was more disappointed in how things had turned out for me and Anu.”