Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) officially announced the appointment of Satya Nadella as new CEO and member of its board of directors effective immediately.
Prior to his appointment, Nadella served as executive vice president of Cloud and Enterprise group of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). He joined the software giant in 1992. Nadella led major strategy and technical shifts across the portfolio of products and services of the company.
According to Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), the most notable strategy spearheaded by Nadella was its move towards cloud and the development of the largest cloud infrastructures worldwide that supports Bing, Xbox, Office, and other services.
The Server and Tools business of the software giant outperformed the market and capture the market share of its competitors during his tenure as head of the unit.
In a statement, Nadella said, 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.” He believes that the company has a great future ahead. He added, “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.”
Outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer said, “Having worked with him for more than 20 years, I know that Satya is the right leader at the right time for Microsoft.” Last August, Ballmer announced that he will step down from his position once the board of directors named his successor.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) also announced that its founder, Bill Gates will no longer serve as chairman of the board of directors. He will now serve as Technology Advisor, and he will devote more time to the company and support Nadella in shaping technology and product direction.
John Thompson will become chairman, and will remain as lead independent director of the board.
Gates said, “During this time of transformation, there is no better person to lead Microsoft than Satya Nadella.” According to him, the newly appointed CEO 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,” added Gates.
