Microsoft’s board of directors has named Satya Nadella, an internal candidate as its third CEO, replacing Steve Ballmer, who has been in the job since January 2000.
The announcement follows an extensive search, both within and outside Microsoft, for a suitable replacement for Ballmer, who announced his intention to step down in August 2013. Ballmer, who took the reins from his friend and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, agreed to continue as CEO until a successor could be found.
At the same time, Gates, who was previously chairman, will assume a new role on the board as founder and technology adviser and will devote more time to the company, supporting Nadella in shaping technology and product direction.
John Thompson, lead independent director, will assume the role of chairman from Gates.
Ballmer exits Microsoft with immediate effect, with today officially Nadella’s first day in the top job. Nadella previously held the position of executive vice-president of Microsoft’s cloud and enterprise group. Analysts say the move shows Microsoft’s desire to protect and grow its lucrative enterprise business.
In a statement, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said: “During this time of transformation, there is no better person to lead Microsoft than Satya Nadella. Satya is a proven leader with hardcore engineering skills, business vision and the ability to bring people together. His vision for how technology will be used and experienced around the world is exactly what Microsoft needs as the company enters its next chapter of expanded product innovation and growth.”
Nadella joined Microsoft in 1992 and has “spearheaded major strategy and technical shifts across the company’s portfolio of products and services, most notably the company’s move to the cloud and the development of one of the largest cloud infrastructures in the world supporting Bing, Xbox, Office and other services”, the company said in a statement.
“During his tenure overseeing Microsoft’s server and tools business, the division outperformed the market and took share from competitors.” — (c) 2014 NewsCentral Media
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