The Microsoft outage is disrupting email. These business leaders barely use it anyway.

These CEOs say they limit their use of email. Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic; Alisha Jucevic/Bloomberg; Daniel Delgado Jr./Disney A widespread Microsoft outage on Thursday left thousands of users struggling to access their emails, disrupting workplaces and government operations around the world.The outage affected Outlook, Teams, Copilot, and other Microsoft 365 services. In updates on X, Microsoft said overloaded infrastructure and unresponsive servers were contributing to the disruptions, which continued into Friday."We regret that today's outages caused disruptions for our customers, and we are working to address the issue," Microsoft executive Charles Lamanna said in a Thursday post on X. "We will continue to share more information as soon as we have it, and for now I can confirm that there is no indication this is the result of malicious or cyber activity."The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.Some employees around the world are celebrating the outage, saying they can't possibly work without their Teams and emails, and are jokingly suggesting their bosses give them Friday off. Others, in angry social media posts, are calling on Microsoft to resolve the issue soon so they can get back to work.But for some of the world's most successful business leaders, going without email is already a way of life.Several CEOs and entrepreneurs have previously told Business Insider that they rarely use email, preferring phone calls, text messages, or even handwritten letters.Kevin O'Leary"Shark Tank" investor Kevin O'Leary said in a December interview with Business Insider that he had given up on email after being inundated with thousands of messages daily."I don't do emails anymore because I get anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 a day," he said. O'Leary said he had tried different filtering systems but couldn't escape the constant stream of messages. People who need to reach him now use messaging apps instead, he added.Brian Chesky Brian Chesky says email is one of the most inferior forms of communication. Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Airbnb The Airbnb CEO is another email skeptic."I don't know if I write an email a week," Chesky told Time in a September interview.He said he responds to emails daily but rarely initiates them, preferring texts, calls, and in-person conversations."I just find it inferior to almost every other form of communication," Chesky said, explaining that texts feel more personal and faster.John Paul DeJoriaDeJoria, the billionaire cofounder of haircare brands John Paul Mitchell Systems and Patrón Tequila, takes things further."I don't even own a computer," DeJoria told Business Insider in a June interview.The 82-year-old entrepreneur said he doesn't have an email address. Instead, he uses his assistant's computer when necessary and prefers calls or handwritten letters.Wolfgang Puck Wolfgang Puck says he prefers to do work over calls. Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Drink Las Vegas The celebrity chef also favors phone calls over email when managing his restaurant empire."I don't enjoy emails very much. I like talking to people directly. I think you understand people better that way," Puck told Business Insider earlier this year.Melanie Perkins "When I shut my laptop, I actually tune out," Perkins says. Nina Franova/Getty Images for SXSW Sydney The Canva CEO isn't against using email, but limits it to protect her personal time."I don't have email or Slack on my phone," Perkins said on a podcast last year. "When I shut my laptop, I actually tune out."She said she remains reachable through emergency calls or pages, but otherwise tries to separate work from downtime. Read next Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Shuby is a senior reporter at Business Insider's Singapore bureau, where she writes about tech, with a focus on AI training and vibe-coding startups.She previously interned for Bloomberg News and CNBC. She studied communications and business at the National University of Singapore. In 2026, she won the Singapore Press Club Tech Journalism Award for her work on the hidden human cost of Meta's chatbot training program and an exposé on the black market for AI gig-work accounts.Have a tip? Contact her via email at sgoel@insider.com or on secure messaging app Signal at @shuby.85. We can keep sources anonymous. Microsoft Big Tech