NEW YORK-
Microsoft Corp is likely to appoint its cloud-computing head, Satya Nadella, as its next chief executive, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday, as the board concludes a five-month search for a tech-savvy heavy-hitter to lead the world’s largest software company.
Rising star Nadella,46, a native of Hyderabad, India – where Microsoft has its largest non-U.S. research center – was promoted to run the company’s fast-expanding cloud, or internet-based, computing initiatives in July last year as part of current CEO Steve Ballmer’s radical re-organization of the company.
The appointment of the Microsoft veteran of 22 years would make him the most powerful Indian-born tech executive in the world and put him alongside PepsiCo Inc’s chief, Indra Nooyi, as the leader of a well-known, large-cap U.S. Corporation.
As part of the move, co-founder Bill Gates may step aside as chairman and be replaced by lead independent director John Thompson, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity because the process is private. Gates would remain a director, the source added.
Several people briefed on the CEO search process had previously told a foreign news agency that Microsoft was down to a handful of candidates, including Nadella and Tony Bates, executive vice-president of business development, plus at least one external candidate.
The board still has not met to finalize Nadella’s offer and nothing has been signed, the source said. Microsoft declined to comment.
wish him all the luck.
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