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Apr 12, 2001
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Microsoft announced today that it has appointed company veteran Satya Nadella as Chief Executive Officer to replace retiring Steve Ballmer. Nadella, who previously served as executive vice president of the company's Cloud and Enterprise group, will take over as CEO and join the Board of Directors effective immediately.

Satya-Nadella.jpg
As part of this leadership change, Bill Gates is stepping down as Chairman of the Board of Directors and will take a position as "Founder and Technology Advisor". John Thompson, former CEO of Symantec, will assume the role of Board Chairman. This will mark a significant shift for Gates, who has been asked by Nadella to take a more active role in product development within the company.
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.
Gates will work three days each week at Microsoft and will remain actively involved in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, reports Re/code.

Article Link: Satya Nadella Appointed Microsoft CEO as Bill Gates Shifts from Chairman to 'Technology Advisor'
 

Teste

macrumors 6502
Jan 8, 2011
353
5
I think what's bigger is that Gates is stepping down.

Or up as far as product design is concerned, if (and that's a big IF) the bottom of the article is true, and not just Nadella saving face.
 

firedept

macrumors 603
Jul 8, 2011
6,277
1,130
Somewhere!
Wow Gates stepping down. That is big news. I hope this will be even better for his foundation now that he will have some more time hopefully to devote to it.

Edit: Yes I misread the article, but I still prefer Melinda & Bills philanthropic ways. I would prefer to see him devote much more time to the foundation.
 
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Ted13

macrumors 6502a
Dec 29, 2003
669
353
NYC
Or up as far as product design is concerned, if (and that's a big IF) the bottom of the article is true, and not just Nadella saving face.
Yeah, more of a step up if true.

This is probably the best Microsoft could have done -- some of the other rumored choices like Stephen Elop were just disasters.
 

Stella

macrumors G3
Apr 21, 2003
8,837
6,334
Canada
Good luck!

Hopefully you won't be as bad as the Balmer train wreck.

Better to have successfully technology companies rather than failures. Better for technology, jobs and consumers.
 

NotAdvisable

macrumors regular
Nov 16, 2011
220
90
Perth, Australia
I think what's bigger is that Gates is stepping down.

Wow Gates stepping down. That is big news. I hope this will be even better for his foundation now that he will have some more time hopefully to devote to it.

"This will mark a significant shift for Gates, who has been asked by Nadella to take a more active role in product development within the company."

Read the article again ;)
Gates is pretty much getting back into a much larger and more prominent position at Microsoft that'll put him back where he loves it most - device & project development.

Old habits die hard, it seems.
 

Razeus

macrumors 603
Jul 11, 2008
5,348
2,030
Good luck. Hopefully you'll stop being late to everything and bring better products and services outside of your main, stagnant trio (Windows, Office, Server).
 

Iconoclysm

macrumors 68040
May 13, 2010
3,090
2,458
Washington, DC
Wow Gates stepping down. That is big news. I hope this will be even better for his foundation now that he will have some more time hopefully to devote to it.

Why does everyone misread this article? Gates is becoming more involved with MS than he has in the past 10 years, he's working 3 days a week in Redmond.
 

Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
24,084
31,015
Stock is up but not much (Google and Apple are up more right now) so either this was widely expected so not really news or Wall Street wanted Microsoft to pick an outsider instead. It will be interesting to see if Nadella's peers in the executive ranks stay with the company or decide to leave.
 

JHankwitz

macrumors 68000
Oct 31, 2005
1,911
58
Wisconsin
So...who is he?

From the Milwaukee Business Journal: "The head of Microsoft's cloud division, Nadella earned his master's degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee in 1990. He returned to his alma mater last year to receive the UWM Chancellor's Innovator Award."

Rumors of this happening have been flying around Milwaukee for quite some time.
 
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Iconoclysm

macrumors 68040
May 13, 2010
3,090
2,458
Washington, DC
So this is Microsoft following IBM in abandoning the PC and going for enterprise services?

Certainly not the average PC user.

WTH? Microsoft went after Enterprise Services 15 years ago...and certainly didn't abandon the PC in doing so.

The mantra of the company is now Devices and Services, that should tell you enough.
 
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