Ending months of speculation, Microsoft announced Tuesday that its board has appointed Satya Nadella as CEO and a member of the Microsoft board.
Nadella, previously the executive VP of Microsoft’s cloud and enterprise group, will succeed Steve Ballmer to become the company’s third-ever CEO.
Bill Gates, Microsoft’s founder and first CEO, will step down as board chairman to assume a new mentoring-focused board role as founder and technology advisor, where he will “devote more time to the company, supporting Nadella in shaping technology and product direction.” John Thompson, lead independent director for the board of directors, will become chairman of the board and remain an independent director on the board.
Other candidates rumored to be in the running for the Microsoft CEO post included Ford CEO Alan Mulally, Hans Vestberg, CEO of Ericsson, the company that bought Microsoft’s IPTV-focused Mediaroom assets last year, and former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop.
