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

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
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.

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Top Rated Comments

natd1993 Avatar
160 months ago
But... can he do this?

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Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Winni Avatar
160 months ago
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.

You should read the news again: Gates is stepping down as Chairman, but at the same time he will spend MORE TIME at Microsoft as TECHNOLOGY ADVISER.

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Interesting Mac rumor....

Microsoft has a Mac division. And a CEO change at Microsoft is certainly more newsworthy than a new Angry Birds release for iOS...
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
160 months ago
For those of us who love Microsoft for Azure and .NET, this is fantastic news.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RawBert Avatar
160 months ago
He should throw these on. I'd like to see how he looks in them. MacRumors content image
MacRumors content image
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
160 months ago
Compared to Ballmer, he looks like someone i'd like to have tea with.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
160 months ago
Well a software engineer at the helm again seems like a good thing.

Interesting Mac rumor....
Come on, iPhone rumors aren't Mac rumors. This concerns Apple as well since MS is one of their main competitors. It's not like every MS event is reported.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)