Bloomberg: Microsoft is preparing to make Satya Nadella, the company’s enterprise and cloud chief, chief executive officer and is discussing replacing Bill Gates as chairman, according to people with knowledge of the process.
One person the board is considering to take the place of co-founder Gates as chairman is Microsoft lead independent director John Thompson, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the process is private. Even if Gates steps down as chairman, he may be more involved in the company, said two people familiar with the matter, particularly in areas like product development.
Nadella, 46, emerged as one of the stronger candidates to replace departing CEO Steve Ballmer, 57, weeks ago, people familiar with the search have said. The plans aren’t final, said the people.
As president of Microsoft’s server business, Nadella boosted revenue to $20.3 billion in the fiscal year through June, up from $16.6 billion when he took over in 2011. That unit became cloud and enterprise when Ballmer overhauled Microsoft’s structure in July to focus the company on devices and services.
