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This article was first published 10 years ago

Microsoft likely to name Satya Nadella as next CEO

Last updated on: January 31, 2014 10:11 IST

Image: Satya Nadella
Photographs: Courtesy, Microsoft Yoshita Singh in New York

Technology giant Microsoft is likely to name Indian-American top executive Satya Nadella to replace longtime chief Steve Ballmer as the new Chief Executive Officer, capping a five-month search for the only third CEO in the company's history.

The Hyderabad-native, who is the executive vice president of Microsoft's Cloud and Enterprise group, has been among the front-runners being considered for the top job.

Microsoft likely to name Satya Nadella as next CEO

Image: Satya Nadella, executive vice president, Cloud and Enterprise, addresses employees during the One Microsoft Town Hall event
Photographs: Courtesy, Microsoft

Microsoft is getting closer to naming a CEO with the sentiment inside the company shifting to Nadella, 46, a report in The Wall Street Journal quoted people familiar with the process as saying.

The WSJ report said as potential candidates outside of Microsoft were ruled out of the CEO hunt, in recent weeks the sentiment inside the company and among people familiar with the process shifted in favour of Nadella.

Microsoft likely to name Satya Nadella as next CEO

Image: Bill Gates
Photographs: Reuters

The Microsoft board is also discussing replacing co-founder Bill Gates as chairman, in what would be a historic shift for the company.

The board is believed to be considering Microsoft lead independent director John Thompson as Gates's replacement.

Nadella is responsible for building and running the company's computing platforms, developer tools and cloud services.

Microsoft likely to name Satya Nadella as next CEO


Photographs: Courtesy, Microsoft

Nadella and his team delivered the 'Cloud OS', Microsoft's next generation backend platform which not only powers all of its Internet scale cloud services but also fuels global enterprises around the world to meet their mission-critical computing needs.

Previously, Nadella was president of Microsoft's $19 billion Server and Tools Business and led the transformation of the business and technology from client-server software to cloud infrastructure and services.

Prior roles include senior vice president of R&D for the Online Services Division and vice president of the Microsoft Business Division.

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Microsoft likely to name Satya Nadella as next CEO

Image: Senior leaders Tami Reller (left), Amy Hood, Satya Nadella and Qi Lu participate in the One Microsoft Town Hall event.
Photographs: Courtesy, Microsoft

Before joining Microsoft in 1992, Nadella was a member of the technology staff at Sun Microsystems.

Nadella earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Mangalore University, a master's degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Chicago.

Nadella, if he emerges as the chosen one, would be only the third CEO in Microsoft's 38-year history after Gates and Ballmer.

The appointment would be a significant achievement for Nadella, who would join a proud circle of India-origin executives helming top global companies.

Other Indians at the helm include PepsiCo chairman and chief executive officer Indra Nooyi, MasterCard president and chief executive officer Ajay Banga and Deutsche Bank Co-CEO Anshu Jain. 

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