Satya Nadella’s first big play as the new chief executive of Microsoft is to start offering Office software on iPad, owned by arch-rival Apple.

Mr Nadella made the announcement at his first launch event on Thursday. There are three separate apps for Word, Excel and Powerpoint – all optimised for touch screens.

Within hours of the announcement they had become the most downloaded items in Apple’s app store. Word topped the list, with Excel and Powerpoint in third and fourth place.

He said: “We are not bound to one device, one place or one time. Job number one is to empower people to be more productive, to do more, across all these devices.”

Microsoft shares hit their highest point since 2000 in anticipation of the release.

Asked why it had taken so long to bring Office products to the iPad, Mr Nadella said: “We think it’s still early days. Anything can be done fast, the whole idea is to take care of everything done right.”