Microsoft appointed a new chief executive officer for just the third time in company history this week, tapping Satya Nadella to lead the 38-year-old software giant.
Nadella will replace Steve Ballmer, who had announced last summer that he would leave the company within a year.
Bill Gates, the founder of the company and still the person most associated with Microsoft, is moving into a technology adviser role. In a statement, Microsoft said Gates would “devote more time to the company, supporting Nadella in shaping technology and product direction.” In recent years Gates had focused more on global philanthropy.
Gates also remains a member of the board of directors for the publicly-traded company, one of 30 companies that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The Microsoft board is structured so that 7 of the 10 members are independent of the company. Right now that list includes former executives at JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, BMW and current executives from Seagate Technology, California-based venture capital firm August Capital and Virtual Instruments. The president of private engineering, science and mathematics school Harvey Mudd College, Maria M. Klawe, is also on the board.
Nadella, 46, has been with Microsoft for 22 years, according to the Associated Press. He has been part of the executive team on a number of successful Microsoft businesses, including development of Microsoft Office and the company’s server and tool business.
His latest job before the promotion was as the executive in charge of the company’s efforts to get into cloud computing – offering software and services over the Internet. Microsoft historically had not been involved in the growing cloud computing business, focusing instead on the bread-and-butter business of software used on personal computers – which is the case in almost every corporate office in the country.
In a statement issued by Microsoft, Gates said, “Satya is a proven leader with hard-core engineering skills, business vision and the ability to bring people together. His vision for how technology will be used and experienced around the world is exactly what Microsoft needs as the company enters its next chapter of expanded product innovation and growth.”
Ballmer had been CEO since 2000. Before that, Gates led the company since its inception in the late 1970s.
Reacting to the news, technology writer Ed Baig wrote in USA Today that industry experts will be watching Microsoft’s direction closely. “The company that so long dominated the PC space with Windows and Office does need help, most notably in such areas as mobile, where it has been a relative laggard.”
He said all eyes will be on Gates as well as Nadella, waiting to see if in his new role as technology adviser Gates can “deliver a hit product or two.”
Please Leave A Comment
Related posts:
Microsoft vs. Google Patents Ruling: The ITC’s Growing Role in Business
Google Invests $40 Million In Education Technology Company
Microsoft Shares Rise on News of Restructuring Efforts
Ed Tech Company Gets $6.5 Million Boost
At SXSW Education Conference, Bill Gates Stresses Technology as the Future