The biggest potential loser of the OpenAI fiasco was Satya Nadella. Now he's outsmarted them all.

• Satya Nadella was instrumental in the failed talks to bring Sam Altman back to OpenAI.
• Of all the parties on the losing end of this fiasco, Microsoft was potentially the biggest.
• But Nadella made a move for the history books by hiring Altman and his loyalists to work directly for Microsoft.

By Monday morning, it was official: Sam Altman couldn't be convinced to return to OpenAI. But, in a brilliant strategic move, CEO Satya Nadella instantly found a way out of what would have been a catastrophe for his company, Microsoft.