Satya Nadella Named Microsoft CEO, Bill Gates Steps Down as Chairman
computing division and enterprise business, was
appointed Microsoft CEO after a team of headhunters
concluded a 5-month search that included some of the
most world's most famous executives.
Nadella is only the 3rd person to lead Microsoft; since
the company was founded 39 years ago, only co-
founder Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer have headed it.
As part of the announcement, Bill Gates said he would
step down as chairman to assume a new role on the
board as founder and technology adviser. John
Thompson, the Microsoft board member who oversaw
its search for a new chief executive, becomes
chairman. "During this time of transformation, there
is no better person to lead Microsoft than Satya
Nadella," Gates said...
"Satya is a proven leader with hardcore 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," Gates
said in his statement.
Nadella may be little known outside of Microsoft's
sprawling Redmond campus, but inside it he is a star.
Before being named as CEO he ran one of Microsoft's
fastest growing divisions, cloud services. Revenue at
the division soared 107% compared to a year ago, the
company said when it reported its fiscal 2nd-quarter
results on 23 January. Most of his experience is in
serving corporate customers – the source of two-thirds
of Microsoft profits.
In a statement about his hiring, Nadella called
Microsoft "one of those rare companies to have truly
revolutionized the world through technology," and said,
"I couldn't be more honoured to have been chosen to
lead the company.
"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."
Nadella joined the company in 1992 and as well as
heading cloud services, he also held leadership roles
in server software, internet search and business
applications. Born in Hyderabad, India, he holds a
master's degree in computer science from the
University of Wisconsin, and a master's in business
administration from the University of Chicago.
Married for 22 years and with 3 children, he counts
cricket and poetry among his hobbies. In an email to
Microsoft employees on Tuesday morning, he wrote
that he is "defined by my curiosity and thirst for
learning."
On the web page constructed for his announcement,
Microsoft said:
Microsoft's new CEO finds relaxation by reading
poetry, in all forms and by poets who are both Indian
and American. "It's like code," he says. "You're trying to
take something that can be described in many, many
sentences and pages of prose, but you can convert it
into a couple lines of poetry and you still get the
essence, so it's that compression." Indeed, he says, the
best code is poetry.
In a video interview, Nadella said he was "honoured,
humbled, excited," by his appointment. "We have
tremendous opportunity and that's exciting. And I'm
also grounded on our challenges. In fact that is the
adventure and the constraint that also creates, I think,
the competitive zeal in me to be able to do great work,"
he said.
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