Attending the school "was the best break I had in my life," said Satya Nadella, pictured.
Microsoft

  • Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella went to Hyderabad Public School, along with the CEOs of Adobe and Mastercard.
  • HPS is a private school in southern India that was originally founded as a school for the sons of aristocrats.
  • Nadella played cricket there, and says the experience strongly influenced his professional career.

If you're looking to raise one of the most powerful business leaders in the world, you might want to send your kid to Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet, in India.

In an interview with Stephen Dubner on an episode of the Freakonomics podcast, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella mentioned that not only did he attend HPS — so did Shantanu Narayen, the CEO of Adobe, and Ajay Banga, the CEO of Mastercard.

HPS is what Americans would consider to be a private school — although in India, like England, the schools Americans would call "private" are called public schools. According to the school's website, it was established in 1923 and was originally a school for the sons of aristocrats, modeled after Eton College in London. In 2017, it was ranked one of the top 10 schools in India.

Indian schoolchildren perform yoga at Delhi Public School in Hyderabad, India, Monday, Oct. 20, 2014.
Mahesh Kumar A./AP Images
Hyderabad, the southern Indian city where HPS is located, is a tech hub. Since 1990, it's been home to the headquarters of Microsoft India.

"Attending the HPS was the best break I had in my life," Nadella said when he visited HPS in 2017, according to The Hindu.

Nadella played cricket at HPS, and he's spoken before about how the sport influenced his career. In a recent interview with Wharton Business School, Nadella said he learned from his high-school cricket coach how to walk the "line between having confidence in your own capability yet having the ability to learn."

Nadella also met his wife, Anupama Nadella, at HPS.

HPS' core values, according to its website, include "strong self-esteem" and "tolerance and respect for others." The school motto? "Be vigilant."

The website reads: "These words exhort young students to be mentally alert, physically ready to take up the challenges that life has to offer.

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