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We'd always known that the person to follow Steve Ballmer would have some shoes to fill. Microsoft was thrown into transition by the market, which shifted towards mobile devices from PCs and towards cloud enterprise. The company made the shift towards being a 'Devices and Services' company last year , but not before Ballmer announced that he would be stepping down in 2014 to make way for a new CEO.
Microsoft appointed a committee for the search of the new CEO and many names were thrown into the mix, but the general consensus was whoever is chosen will have a trough act to follow, with Microsoft losing much revenue under Ballmer's reign. The revival act would need a strong leader.
Ballmer steps down
The guessing games had begun right after Ballmer's announcement . By the time September rolled around and Microsoft announced its acquisition of Nokia's devices and services unit , even Nokia CEO and former Microsoft employee Stephen Elop's name was attached to the position, along with heavyweights such as Ford boss Alan Mulally, Steven Sinofsky, former head of Windows, Vic Gundotra, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and of course former Microsoft CEO, and co-founder Bill Gates. Another name that was thrown into the mix was that of Satya Nadella, the head of Microsoft's cloud and enterprise group.
With its Nokia purchase Microsoft underlined its mobile ambitions and set itself up for scaling up in terms of production and inventory. Elop was said to be coming back to Microsoft, to lead the Devices team, which will include all the staff coming from Nokia, while Julie Larson-Green, who was also in the running for the CEO post, was given the charge for the big launches of the Xbox One and new Surface tablets. But neither of them was the investors' choice. The top investors were said to be pushing for Mulally as well as Computer Sciences CEO Mike Lawrie, both known for turning around flagging brands. Mulally, in particular, was a strong choice, according to many reports at the time. His close relationship with departing CEO Ballmer during the restructuring of Microsoft and creating new management was the chief reason for his popularity.
In November, we heard Elop and Mulally had made the proverbial short list of candidates along with former Skype CEO Tony Bates, who is now responsible for Microsoft's business development, and Nadella. But Ford said that there was no change in Mulally's position at Ford and called the short list speculation.
Elop was a strong contender
While the search was on, the market reacted favourably to Microsoft. With reports of Microsoft closing in on its CEO doing the rounds, its shares jumped to a 13-year high , boosted by word of an outside CEO who might shed off some deadweight to make Microsoft a leaner outfit. This was the same approach that Elop was said to be taking, to sharpen the company's focus . Gates, when asked what he was looking for in the next CEO, said Microsoft needs someone who can run a "complex global business" and "work with our top technical talent." Despite speculation of what the possible new CEOs would bring in, there was no certainty on the horizon. By December, Nadella's name was being strongly attached to the position again and a new name, that of Qualcomm COO Steve Mollenkopf also got thrown in .
Nadella is the front-runner (Image: Reuters)
In the first week of 2014, Microsoft's search had taken a turn and all focus now was on an internal candidate . This was after Mulally ruled himself out of the running . Now the focus was on Nadella, Elop and Bates. Towards the end of the month, Nadella's name became more and more strongly linked to the CEO post, with other top-level changes. Nadella, being a Microsoft loyalist and instrumental in bringing up Microsoft's cloud and enterprise business, was thought to be the right guy to revive the company. Although Microsoft has not confirmed Nadella's appointment , several reports suggest the choice is final , though at least one report says Sundar Pichai , chief of Android at Google, could also be roped in. That seems highly unlikely as Pichai has been entrenched in Google for many years, but we still have to wait for an official word from Microsoft. Till then, the saga continues.
Microsoft, Microsoft CEO, Microsoft CEO Ballmer, Nadella CEO, Satya Nadella
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