Sources told Bloomberg that Alan Mulally and Satya Nadella were the top two candidates favored by the Board of Microsoft Corp to become the company's Chief Executive Officer. Mulally is the Chief Executive Officer of Ford Motor Co while Nadella is an internal executive of Microsoft.
The sources added that although two other candidates are still in the pool of potential candidates, they were less likely to be asked to take the job. These are internal candidate Tony Bates and the former Chief Executive Officer of Nokia Stephen Elop. One of the people also said there were other people considered for the position and that they may end up as the front runners also. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity since the deliberations for the replacement of outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer were private.
According to a Bloomberg report, Microsoft had seen its leadership in the software market decline as its main business focused on the personal computer market has also shrunk. The company is now changing gears, concentrating on hardware and Internet-based services so it can compete with rivals Google Inc and Apple Inc.
The Microsoft board held a meeting on November 18 to talk about their search for a new CEO. One of the people said the board wants to arrive a decision within the year, although an announcement may not be made until early next year. In a shareholder event held last week, Microsoft Chairman and Co-Founder Bill Gates revealed that the board has met with many candidates for the post. However, he did not state when the directors will give their decision. Gates added that the CEO post was a complex role to fill.
When asked about the report about Mulally, Ford spokesman Jay Cooney told Bloomberg, "There is no change from what we announced last November. Alan remains completely focused on executing our One Ford plan. We do not engage in speculation."
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