Microsoft seems to have narrowed down its list of potential CEOs even further, with Ford’s Alan Mulally being the favourite while Stephen Elop and Tony Bates are kept as reserves.
Bloomberg News is reporting that Microsoft’s board is getting closer to a decision in regards to its upcoming CEO change. Earlier reports claimed that the company is looking to name a new CEO by the end of this year, and new information seems to confirm that.
Stephen Elop, who is still working for Nokia at this point, once considered a favourite in the CEO race seems to have been ‘downgraded’ alongside Tony Bates, another strong internal candidate. Recent rumors suggested that Elop had a radical vision for Microsoft’s future that included killing off Bing and possibly selling off the Xbox division.
In the meantime Ford’s current CEO, Alan Mulally, and Satya Nadella, executive vice president of cloud and enterprise at Microsoft, are now considered to be the favorites. An internal document described the ideal CEO candidate as having “extensive track record in managing complex, global organizations within a fast-paced and highly competitive market sector; track record of delivering top and bottom line results. Proven ability to lead a multi-billion dollar organization and large employee base”.
While Ford’s CEO definitely marks all of those checkboxes, his lack of experience in the technology industry is seen by some as a potential deal-breaker. And let’s not forget that both Ford and Mulally himself have stated there are no changes planned in Ford’s leadership.
Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s current CEO is set to retire in the next nine months as a way to help accelerate the major changes happening inside the tech giant.
Source: Bloomberg | Image via Microsoft