As expected, Microsoft has announced that Satya Nadella it so be its next top boss.<br /><br />The 22-year veteran of the company is currently the head of its cloud-computing division<br /><br />Co-founder Bill Gates said there is no better person to lead Microsoft, during what he called “this time of transformation”. <br /><br />Current chief executive Steve Ballmer, who announced last August that he would retire once a successor was named, also said Nadella is “the right leader at the right time for Microsoft”.<br /><br />Nadella is only the third CEO in Microsoft’s 39-year history, following Gates and Ballmer.<br /><br />Gates’ role will also change. He is to stand down as chairman, but will advise Nadella on shaping technology and product direction at the world’s largest software firm. Gates will retain a seat on the board.<br /><br />Microsoft also said John Thompson, lead independent director, would be the new chairman.<br /><br />Wall Street wasn’t displeased and the company’s shares rose. <br /><br />Most agree that Nadella’s background in creating Microsoft’s internet-based, or “cloud” computing services makes him a safe pair of hands to take the company forward.<br /><br />What is less certain is his ability to make Microsoft a hit with consumers or with impatient shareholders.<br /><br />Investors would like to see Nadella re-ignite the company’s mobile ambitions and challenge Apple and Google. <br /><br />However some of them would prefer retrenchment and to get their hands on a bigger cut of the company’s massive cash pile.
