Brad Smith

Vice Chair and President Microsoft

Last Reviewed: October 1, 2026

Executive Summary

Brad Smith is Microsoft’s Vice Chair and President and its public face on the questions where technology meets society, including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, privacy, sustainability, human rights, digital safety and immigration. He leads roughly 2,000 business, legal and corporate affairs professionals in 54 countries. He joined Microsoft in 1993, spent more than a decade as general counsel working to resolve its antitrust disputes, and has been president since 2015 and vice chair since 2021. He is also a director of Netflix. Microsoft ranked No. 11 on the 2026 Fortune 500.

Career Highlights

• Vice Chair and President of Microsoft since September 2021.
• President and Chief Legal Officer, 2015 to 2021.
• General Counsel and Secretary from 2001, and Chief Compliance Officer from 2002.
• Joined Microsoft in 1993, first leading its legal and corporate affairs team in Europe from Paris.
• Director of Netflix since 2015; Princeton University trustee since 2014.

Professional Journey

Smith grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin. He attended Princeton University, earned a Juris Doctor at Columbia University Law School and studied international law and economics at the Graduate Institute in Geneva. He was an associate and then a partner at Covington & Burling.

He joined Microsoft in 1993 and spent three years in Paris leading its legal and corporate affairs team in Europe, then served as Deputy General Counsel for Worldwide Sales. He became general counsel and secretary in 2001 and spent the following decade leading work to resolve the company’s antitrust disputes with governments and companies around the world.

He became President and Chief Legal Officer in 2015 and Vice Chair and President in September 2021. With Carol Ann Browne he co-wrote the book Tools and Weapons. He has served on the Netflix board since 2015, chairs the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship board, and co-founded Kids in Need of Defense, where he is board chair emeritus.

Education

Princeton University

Undergraduate studies; degree type not stated in the sources read.

Columbia University Law School

Juris Doctor