Microsoft Could be Headed for the Cloud Under New Leadership
Looks like Microsoft is close to naming its new CEO.
Unnamed sources close to Microsoft’s CEO search claim that the company is getting ready to name Satya Nadella, the current enterprise and cloud chief, as the successor to Steve Ballmer. There’s also talk that Bill Gates may be replaced as Microsoft’s Chairman of the Board.
According to the sources, Microsoft lead independent director John Thompson will probably take Gates’ place, allowing the Microsoft co-founder to be more involved with the company such as product development. However there’s speculation that if Microsoft hires a CEO from the inside, the company may look for a new chairman beyond the Redmond walls.
Currently the plans aren’t final, but Nadella, 46, became one of the more stronger candidates several weeks ago. Nadella joins former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, Microsoft Executive Vice President Tony Bates and COO Kevin Turner on the list of possible candidates
Bloomberg reports that Nadella, while serving as Microsoft’s server business president, boosted revenue to $20.3 billion in the fiscal year through June, up from $16.6 billion when he took the position in 2011. That unit became cloud and enterprise during Ballmer’s company restructuring last summer.
Recode reports that Nadella is the likeliest candidate due to his familiarity with the company, he has a strong technical background, and has spent most of his career within the Redmond walls. But two other insiders – Bates and Elop – have not been told that they are out of the running. That means the committee still hasn’t made a final decision.
Despite the search seemingly coming to a close, there are a number of people inside and outside Microsoft who still believe the committee may opt for an outsider to take over. That won’t be Ford’s Alan Mulally, Qualcomm’s Steve Mollenkopf and Ericsson’s Hans Vestberg who have made it clear they don’t want Starship Microsoft’s captain’s chair.
Earlier in January, Bill Gates told Bloomberg that he devotes most of his time to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and charitable efforts. He said he would work on philanthropy full time for the rest of his life, and contribute part time as a Microsoft board member.
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“The board is doing important work right now,” said Gates. “The foundation is the biggest part of my time. I put in part-time work to help as a board member. My full-time work will be the foundation for the rest of my life. I will not change that.”
There’s no doubt that Microsoft wants its new CEO and Chairman in place before the company opens the doors to BUILD in April. By then Windows 8.1 Update 1 and Windows Phone 8.1 should be upon us, and Microsoft is expected to talk about Windows 9 for October 2014 or April 2015.
Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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sukebe Exactly where the NSA wants your data: "the cloud". Ever notice how these two entities started around the same time?Reply -
DanDustEmOff @sukebe "Exactly where the NSA wants your data: "the cloud". Ever notice how these two entities started around the same time?" Get a grip the NSA has little need to know your day to day actions. Wear uour tin foil hat and you should be fine.Reply -
red77star MS Needs to get rid of Metro. Any form of Metro won't bring them good. It is just one ugly useless interface.Reply -
DanDustEmOff @sukebe "Exactly where the NSA wants your data: "the cloud". Ever notice how these two entities started around the same time?" Get a grip the NSA has little need to know your day to day actions. Wear uour tin foil hat and you should be fine.Reply -
matt_b ReplyGet a grip the NSA has little need to know your day to day actions. Wear uour tin foil hat and you should be fine.
When something as simple as Facebook has become a heavily-used tool in the field of background checking professionally and socially, you can easily add cloud storage as another tool against users with the original intent of helping them. I don't trust someone else or some other entity having my information and it is no longer local to only me. This has nothing to do with the tin-foil hat wearers and everything to do with history.and probability I'm not sure if this guy would be the perfect fit for a company with a track record that has looked unfavorably this long now. I wouldn't say Microsoft has become irrelevant, but too many product miscues and what has become an obvious culture of failed market products will take someone that really understands where this company is and where it needs to be. Usually promoting from within seems to be the best policy, but it would seem the best way to stem a culture slide like this would be to hire from the outside to change that formula. -
happyballz Just when you thought that it could not get any more terrible than "Metro". Microsoft present you the CLOUDDDDDD.Reply
They seriously need to stop calling everything cloud... just call it tech from the 80s. -
falchard Nadella is definitely a better choice than those alternatives listed. If it was Elop I would think in 5 years we will be talking about how Microsoft used to have 90% of the desktop market.Reply