Could Satya Nadella be the next Microsoft CEO?
After a months-long search following the announcement from Microsoft鈥檚 current CEO,聽Steve Ballmer, that he would bid adieu to the top spot at the Seattle-based tech company, the tech world is buzzing about who could be his successor.
Recent reports have surfaced that point at a likely candidate: Satya Nadella. The 22-year Microsoft veteran is said to be a charismatic though quiet leader, who has headed up some of Microsoft鈥檚 most profitable ventures. Though the news is still early 鈥� first reported by and , citing unnamed sources 鈥� a look at Mr. Nadella sheds light on what Microsoft wants to see in its next leader.
Nadella is currently the head of the Cloud and Enterprise group at Microsoft, which has been a bastion of success in Microsoft鈥檚 otherwise rocky past few years. reports his division brought in $20.3 billion in revenue last year. His accomplishments include making Windows Azure a viable competitor to Amazon cloud services.
Prior to his current position, he worked with research and development in online services (working with services such as Bing, MSN, and ad platforms), as well as Windows developer relations and business solutions groups.
Some say this combination of technical know-how, relationship with developers, and insider鈥檚 view of the complexities at Microsoft is key for orienting the tech company鈥檚 future.
鈥淗e鈥檚 heading up a division that has massive revenue increases,鈥� says Michael Yoshikami, fund manager with Destination Wealth Management to the Seattle Times. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a longtime employee so he understands the culture of Microsoft. And I think it would give a fresh perspective 鈥� he鈥檚 going to look at everything from a cloud perspective.... That鈥檚 the direction that Microsoft needs to move to stay relevant 鈥� more of a subscription business.鈥�
Nadella certainly to back up his work: He holds a bachelor鈥檚 degree in electrical engineering from Mangalore University, a master鈥檚 degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a master鈥檚 degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Nadella worked at Sun Microsystems before joining Microsoft聽in 1992.
He is originally from Hyderabad, India, where former professors describe him as inquisitive.
"When all other students will quietly listen to what I would teach, he will ask a lot of questions - 'why does it have to be like this, why can't we do it like this?' " says Harishchandra Hebbar, one of Nadella鈥檚 college instructors,聽.
But some say his inexperience in the 鈥渄evices鈥� section of Microsoft鈥檚 鈥渟ervices and devices鈥� direction doesn鈥檛 bode well for those who wanted an revolutionary future for the tech company.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a safe choice,鈥� says Kevin Walkush, a business analyst at Jensen Investment Management in Lake Oswego, Ore.,聽. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a large faction that wants a disruptive tech visionary to take over Microsoft and that group will probably be disappointed. Another group of people think we need a person like Satya who knows the business because it鈥檚 so complex and needs someone that has the inside knowledge.鈥�
