Microsoft has named their longtime executive Satya Nadella as its new CEO, picking respected internal candidate to lead the aging technology giant through a period of unprecedented change and challenges to all its business.
The company also added that Bill Gates will step down as Microsoft chairman to serve as a technology adviser, “supporting Nadella in shaping technology and product direction.”
Bill Gates, an icon of the personal-computer revolution who co-founded Microsoft alongside with Paul Allen, will remain on the company’s board. The company was careful to characterize the change as Gates “stepping up” to a new role, saying he will devote more time to the company as a result.
John Thompson, the former Symantec CEO and Microsoft’s lead independent director, will take over Gates’ role as the chairman of the Microsoft board.
“During this time of transformation, there is no better person to lead Microsoft than Satya Nadella,” Gates said in a statement. “Satya is a proven leader with hard-core engineering skills, business vision and has the ability to bring people together. His vision and agenda for how technology will be used and experienced around the world is just exactly what Microsoft needs as the company enters its next chapter of expanded product innovation and growth.”
Nadella, a 46-year-old engineer and business leader from Hyderabad, India, becomes just the third CEO in Microsoft’s 38-year history. He succeeds Steve Ballmer, who announced in August that he is going to be retiring after more than a decade as the company’s top executive.
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