Microsoft Will Name a New CEO By Early 2014
Microsoft's board of directors gave a heads up on the status of their search for a new CEO, saying that the new chief won't be named until early 2014. John W. Thompson, a member of Microsoft's board of directors, reports that the company started out with over 100 possible candidates and has narrowed the list down to around 20 individuals.
"As the chair of the Board's search committee, I'm pleased with our progress," Thompson writes. "The Board has taken the thoughtful approach that our shareholders, customers, partners and employees expect and deserve. After defining our criteria, we initially cast a wide net across a number of different industries and skill sets."
"At our shareholder meeting in November, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates provided an update on our search process," he adds. "He noted that this is a complex role to fill, involving a complex business model and the ability to lead a highly technical organization and work with top technical talent."
Thompson points out that Microsoft has had only two CEOs in its 38-year history. Steve Ballmer is the most recent, who said in August that he would step down as CEO within 12 months. Speculation and rumor have pointed to Ford's Alan Mulally who has indicated that he plans to stick with the automotive company until the end of 2014. Another supposed candidate is Nokia's Stephen Elop who, according to sources, may want to sell off the Xbox and Bing departments if he sits on Microsoft's throne.
"As a Board, we are determined and confident that the company's third CEO will lead Microsoft to renewed and continued success. We're looking forward to 2014 and the opportunities and decisions that lie ahead," Thompson writes.
Just weeks ago, more than a dozen tech leaders in Silicon Valley, as well as several top execs in Microsoft, actually admitted that they want Tony Bates for the CEO job, the company's current executive vice president of Microsoft responsible for Business Development, Strategy and Evangelism. Bates is a "bold choice," one insider reportedly said.
Sources claim that his past experience at Cisco is seen as a big plus, as at the time he managed around 12,000 global workers and was responsible for more than $20 billion in revenue. He also was placed in charge of the development of a complex networking product even though he does not have a technical degree, and currently holds many patents related to the area.
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Sources told Bloomberg that EBay Inc. CEO John Donahoe and former VMware Inc. CEO Paul Maritz declined to be considered. Microsoft's cloud-computing chief Satya Nadella is still on the list as is Tony Bates and Stephen Elop. Steve Mollenkopf dropped off the list when he took the role of CEO at Qualcomm back on December 12.
Microsoft is going through one of its biggest transformations in decades, seeking out a new CEO while it morphs into a devices and services company. Microsoft is also close to finalizing its acquisition of Nokia's devices and services unit.
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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vmem they really need to drop Elop from the list...Reply
if it helps them, I'm fairly confident that their stocks experience a boost from dropping Elop -
ubercake I'll do it.Reply
Just give me a year. I'll take $100,000,000 and a guaranteed $250,000,000 as a parting gift. -
rwinches How about putting the company president back in total control of the company and get the board out.Reply
I care about a stable and a quality product(s) with no 'take over' the desktop, internet, application, infrastructure et al. greed.
The market is changing and MS is trying to maintain the Status Quo and the tighter the grip the quicker it slips away. They believe they can keep charging the same rates and that by pushing everything into the cloud they can maintain current margins. They were the first to 'give' away the browser with the theory that users need to be able to access the internet for it to grow. Now they need to do the same or at least similar with the OS, with the theory that their cloud offerings will be the best.
Just remember they still are on NT only with improved drivers and a different interface.
Mine is NT 6.2 build 9200 (win 8).
Wow, I'm supposed to be impressed that they use databases and SQL to do installs?
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Hunt4Epic Reply12214125 said:How about putting the company president back in total control of the company and get the board out.
I care about a stable and a quality product(s) with no 'take over' the desktop, internet, application, infrastructure et al. greed.
The market is changing and MS is trying to maintain the Status Quo and the tighter the grip the quicker it slips away. They believe they can keep charging the same rates and that by pushing everything into the cloud they can maintain current margins. They were the first to 'give' away the browser with the theory that users need to be able to access the internet for it to grow. Now they need to do the same or at least similar with the OS, with the theory that their cloud offerings will be the best.
Just remember they still are on NT only with improved drivers and a different interface.
Mine is NT 6.2 build 9200 (win 8).
Wow, I'm supposed to be impressed that they use databases and SQL to do installs?
Yeah lets get rid of C and everything derived from it just cause its even older. Plenty of 'Free' operating systems out there, maybe you should try one.
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SteelCity1981 Reply12213783 said:they really need to drop Elop from the list...
if it helps them, I'm fairly confident that their stocks experience a boost from dropping Elop
you do realize that when he announce to kill bing and sell the xbox brand Microsoft stock actually went up that day when share holder heard that news.
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rwinches @Hunt4Epic 'Yeah lets get rid of C and everything derived from it just cause its even older. Plenty of 'Free' operating systems out there, maybe you should try one.'Reply
Having trouble reading for comprehension still?
I make it easier to understand.
They are charging the same amount for an OS that has changed very little in two decades other than driver updates and UI changes. OK, I give them .net.
Now I can tell by your comment that change is very scary for you, you cling to 'C' maybe it's time to try something really new like 'C++' ooh shudder.
Compared to Amazon and Google, MS looks like they are standing still.
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JOSHSKORN Whoever it is, needs to put the hammer down. Get the Windows 7 Start Menu coding, and drop it into the next Windows 8 update. Plus, give us more options of what we want to see. I'm not interested in "Charms" unless they're swimming in milk.Reply -
back_by_demand Marissa Mayer, she has the brains to do it and after Ballmer we could do with some hottie eye-candy tooReply
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Hunt4Epic Reply12217326 said:@Hunt4Epic 'Yeah lets get rid of C and everything derived from it just cause its even older. Plenty of 'Free' operating systems out there, maybe you should try one.'
Having trouble reading for comprehension still?
I make it easier to understand.
They are charging the same amount for an OS that has changed very little in two decades other than driver updates and UI changes. OK, I give them .net.
Now I can tell by your comment that change is very scary for you, you cling to 'C' maybe it's time to try something really new like 'C++' ooh shudder.
Compared to Amazon and Google, MS looks like they are standing still.
I made two statements as simple as possible, yet you failed to comprehend them. When you stop with your nerd rage, please reread what I typed. I fully understood you, and pointed out the flaws in your logic. There are books written about the concepts I've implied. Unfortunately, they contain english, which contains parts of an 'OLD' dead, non-evolving language (Latin) therefor you would be pissed about paying money for them. I would have agreed with you, if you had pointed out valid deficiencies, but bashing it because its old? Really? I hope you think a whole lot more on the subject and not come back at me with an intermediate response. I do appreciate you bringing Amazon up though. People tend to underrate them in technologies.