Reports say that Microsoft will likely name Satya Nadella as the company's CEO, as well as enterprise and cloud chief. There is the possibility he could take Bill Gates' spot as chairman as well.
Though Nadella is at the top of the list to be named CEO, there's a chance that the chairman position could go to lead independent director, according to sources who talked to Bloomberg. Gates could also decide to retain his chair, too.
Current CEO Steve Ballmer will be leaving the company shortly and whoever takes his position will only be the third CEO in Microsoft's history. The 46-year-old has been with the company for 22 years and worked as a leader in different areas of the company, including cloud services and others.
MIT professor Michael Cusumano, at the Sloan School of Management, spoke positively of Nadella being the popular choice. "Microsoft is a contentious enough place that you wouldn't want to bring in someone who lacked credibility with the engineers."
According to USA Today, Ballmer's departure comes at a time when people were too loudly wondering what the company's focus was and what their strategy should be.
Other possible choices for Microsoft CEO include, executive vp Tony Bates, former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop and others. Two candidates, Ford Motor CEO Alan Mulally and Hans Vestberg, publicly noted they weren't interested.
image: Wikimedia Commons
