By Todd Bishop
Publication Date: 2026-05-20 00:05:00
S. “Soma” Somasegar, a fixture in the Seattle tech community who served as a key leader of Microsoft’s developer business for nearly three decades before supporting a generation of cloud and AI startups as an investor, board member and advisor, has passed away.
The news was confirmed Tuesday afternoon by Microsoft and Madrona, the Seattle-based venture capital firm where Somasegar had been a key figure for the past 11 years.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who first met Somasegar at Microsoft in the early 1990s, remembered him in a statement as “a remarkable leader who helped grow and shape Microsoft’s developer ecosystem, and a dear friend and colleague that I valued greatly.”
“He brought depth, humility, and a real commitment to empowering…
