Microsoft also spent around $9.7 billion on stock buybacks and dividends ahead of the recent mass layoffs, but Nadella says the company is 'thriving.'

Microsoft has eliminated approximately 15,000 roles since May. The company’s CEO said layoffs are the “enigma of success.”

"I want to acknowledge the uncertainty and seeming incongruence of the times we're in. By every objective measure, Microsoft is thriving… and yet, at the same