India-born
Satya Nadella was on Tuesday named as the new CEO of 78 billion USD tech giant
Microsoft
and he attributed his leadership capabilities to playing cricket. 46-year-old
Nadella, who takes over as the third CEO of the Redmond-based firm, is the
first Indian to head the world's largest software firm in its 38-year history,
ending months of speculation as to who would succeed the retiring Steve Balmer.
Nadella, along with Google's Sundar Pichai, were the contenders for the top
job. A cricket enthusiast, Hyderabad-born
Nadella, who had joined Microsoft in 1992, previously served as the
Executive Vice President of Cloud and Enterprise Group.
John
Thompson, who is currently lead independent director, will succeed Microsoft
founder Bill Gates as Chairman. Gates will don a new hat of technology
adviser and retain a seat on the board, the company said in a statement.
"As
Satya Nadella becomes the third CEO of Microsoft, he brings a relentless drive
for innovation and a spirit of
collaboration to this new
role," Microsoft said in a statement, announcing Nadella's appointment. Reacting
to his appointment, Nadella said, "Microsoft is one of those rare
companies to have truly revolutionized the world through technology, and I
couldn't be more honored to have been chosen to lead the company." In an email to employees on first day as CEO,
Nadella paraphrased a quote from Oscar Wilde--"We need to believe in the
impossible and remove the improbable". "We are the only ones who can
harness who can harness power of software and deliver it through devices and
services that truly empowers every individual and every organisation," he
said.
Praising
Nadella as a "proven leader" with hard-core engineering skills,
business vision and the ability to bring people together, Gates said,
"During this time of transformation, there is no better person to lead
Microsoft than Satya Nadella." Nadella takes on as the CEO at a time when
the company is facing a slow erosion of its PC-centric Windows and Office
businesses and is looking at refuelling its mobile ambitions with the takeover
of Finnish handset maker Nokia.
Before
joining Microsoft. Nadella was a member of the technology staff at Sun
Microsystems. Nadella attributed his rise to the top to cricket. "I think
playing cricket taught me more about working in teams and leadership that has
stayed with me throughout my career," he said shortly after was named for
the top post.