BY RYAN NAKASHIMA AP Business Writer, February 4, 2014
REDMOND, WASH. — Microsoft has named Satya Nadella, an executive in charge of the company’s small, but growing business of delivering software and services over the Internet, as its new CEO. Company founder Bill Gates is leaving the chairman role for a new role as technology adviser.
The software company announced Tuesday that Nadella will replace Steve Ballmer, who said in August that he would leave the company within 12 months. Nadella will become only the third leader in the software giant’s 38-year history, after Gates and Ballmer. Board member John Thompson will serve as Microsoft’s new chairman.
Nadella, who is 46 and has worked at Microsoft for 22 years, has been an executive in some of the company’s fastest-growing and most profitable businesses, including its Office and server and tools business.