The chase for Microsoft's CEO has seen many business chiefs enter and exit the potential list, except the software maker's cloud computing executive Satya Nadella, who has reportedly held his candidature in the lead position.
As Steve Ballmer takes bow out of the company, potential candidatures for his chair included Ford's Alan Mulally, Qualcomm COO Steve Mollenkopf and Nokia's former executive president Stephen Elop.
According to Tech Crunch, Indian-origin Satya Nadella has managed to remain a leading candidate, as others fell in the stakes.
Nadella currently handles the cloud computing, and his prowess in less-proven with consumers, but his co-competitors such as Mulally who is not a technologist, gives the 44-year old a benefit of doubt for not having a thing about phones.