Tuesday, February 4th 2014
Microsoft Board Names Satya Nadella as CEO
Microsoft Corp. today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Satya Nadella as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors effective immediately. Nadella previously held the position of Executive Vice President of Microsoft's Cloud and Enterprise group.
"During this time of transformation, there is no better person to lead Microsoft than Satya Nadella," said Bill Gates, Microsoft's Founder and Member of the Board of Directors. "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."
Since joining the company in 1992, Nadella has spearheaded major strategy and technical shifts across the company's portfolio of products and services, most notably the company's move to the cloud and the development of one of the largest cloud infrastructures in the world supporting Bing, Xbox, Office and other services. During his tenure overseeing Microsoft's Server and Tools Business, the division outperformed the market and took share from competitors.
"Microsoft is one of those rare companies to have truly revolutionized the world through technology, and I couldn't be more honored to have been chosen to lead the company," Nadella said. "The opportunity ahead for Microsoft is vast, but to seize it, we must focus clearly, move faster and continue to transform. A big part of my job is to accelerate our ability to bring innovative products to our customers more quickly."
"Having worked with him for more than 20 years, I know that Satya is the right leader at the right time for Microsoft," said Steve Ballmer, who announced on Aug. 23, 2013 that he would retire once a successor was named. "I've had the distinct privilege of working with the most talented employees and senior leadership team in the industry, and I know their passion and hunger for greatness will only grow stronger under Satya's leadership."
Microsoft also announced that Bill Gates, previously Chairman of the Board of Directors, will assume a new role on the Board as Founder and Technology Advisor, and 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 assume the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors and remain an independent director on the Board.
"Satya is clearly the best person to lead Microsoft, and he has the unanimous support of our Board," Thompson said. "The Board took the thoughtful approach that our shareholders, customers, partners and employees expected and deserved."
With the addition of Nadella, Microsoft's Board of Directors consists of Ballmer; Dina Dublon, former Chief Financial Officer of JPMorgan Chase; Gates; Maria M. Klawe, President of Harvey Mudd College; Stephen J. Luczo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Seagate Technology PLC; David F. Marquardt, General Partner at August Capital; Nadella; Charles H. Noski, former Vice Chairman of Bank of America Corp.; Dr. Helmut Panke, former Chairman of the Board of Management at BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG; and Thompson, Chief Executive Officer of Virtual Instruments. Seven of the 10 board members are independent of Microsoft, which is consistent with the requirement in the company's governance guidelines that a substantial majority be independent.
"During this time of transformation, there is no better person to lead Microsoft than Satya Nadella," said Bill Gates, Microsoft's Founder and Member of the Board of Directors. "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."
"Microsoft is one of those rare companies to have truly revolutionized the world through technology, and I couldn't be more honored to have been chosen to lead the company," Nadella said. "The opportunity ahead for Microsoft is vast, but to seize it, we must focus clearly, move faster and continue to transform. A big part of my job is to accelerate our ability to bring innovative products to our customers more quickly."
"Having worked with him for more than 20 years, I know that Satya is the right leader at the right time for Microsoft," said Steve Ballmer, who announced on Aug. 23, 2013 that he would retire once a successor was named. "I've had the distinct privilege of working with the most talented employees and senior leadership team in the industry, and I know their passion and hunger for greatness will only grow stronger under Satya's leadership."
Microsoft also announced that Bill Gates, previously Chairman of the Board of Directors, will assume a new role on the Board as Founder and Technology Advisor, and 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 assume the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors and remain an independent director on the Board.
"Satya is clearly the best person to lead Microsoft, and he has the unanimous support of our Board," Thompson said. "The Board took the thoughtful approach that our shareholders, customers, partners and employees expected and deserved."
With the addition of Nadella, Microsoft's Board of Directors consists of Ballmer; Dina Dublon, former Chief Financial Officer of JPMorgan Chase; Gates; Maria M. Klawe, President of Harvey Mudd College; Stephen J. Luczo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Seagate Technology PLC; David F. Marquardt, General Partner at August Capital; Nadella; Charles H. Noski, former Vice Chairman of Bank of America Corp.; Dr. Helmut Panke, former Chairman of the Board of Management at BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG; and Thompson, Chief Executive Officer of Virtual Instruments. Seven of the 10 board members are independent of Microsoft, which is consistent with the requirement in the company's governance guidelines that a substantial majority be independent.
27 Comments on Microsoft Board Names Satya Nadella as CEO
Microsoft is JUST NOW starting to get modern phones out. They are so late to the phone arena that they previously controlled for years it's not even funny. As far as tablets, they are also behind but making huge strides.
Money: wasted on useles buyouts (Skype, Yammer, aQuantive, etc)
more here:
www.businessinsider.com/steve-ballmers-most-epic-mistakes-as-ceo-of-microsoft-2013-8?op=1
www.netnetweb.com/blog/top-10-reasons-why-steve-ballmer-has-failed-microsoft%E2%80%99s-ceo
On topic, I think this is going to be great for MS. Clearly over the years focus from Gates and Ballmer's missteps did not grow the company. I see a big win for all, better competition/innovation from MS, new CEO focused on developing the company, Gates spending more time in development, and new Chairman getting goals to align with output.
Bing is a steaming pile of ass nobody likes or uses except your grandparents.
XB1 is fine despite early setbacks of douchebaggery moves like no game swapping.
Windows 8 is doing OK thanks to your typical PC world shipping methods, and a lot of gamers are adopting it, but the lack of a start menu is still a touchy issue for most.
Windows RT was a failure, but Windows Phone 8 is amazing, and most Win Phone 8 users I know are extremely happy with the interface and usability (myself included, i use both a lumia 800 and a HTC One).
Vista would have been fine if 90% of domestic users had more than 1GB of RAM, it was a case of software overtaking hardware in terms of requirements.
I like Zune, the software, its fast and snappy, and I still use it to this day. itunes is a hog and slow and altogether terrible in terms of openness and usability. (that's an opinion, to those that feel like attacking me for stating an opinion, go sodomise yourselves if you want to start an arguement).
Welcome Mr. Nadella! :)
So if you like the good old Desktop then stick with Windows 7 until then.
I would agree with you if they only sold 1-2M a year. However, in 2013, they sold 26.3M ipods. That's not some trivial amount.
If we all only bought "bestsellers" the world would be totally facked up. In my religion bestsellers (books, music, food. clothes...) are rubbish. :)