Microsoft has finally announced cloud chief Satya Nadella as its next CEO, replacing Steve Ballmer.
The 46-year old previously headed the Cloud and Enterprise group at Microsoft that accounted for 20.3 billion dollars in revenue and 8.2 billion dollars in operating income during the company's last fiscal year
According to Cnet, it took Microsoft six-months to finally zero-in on Nadella, who is only the third chief executive in the company's nearly four-decade-long history.
Meanwhile, founder Bill Gates, would be moving over as a 'technology advisor,' suggesting a more active role in the development of Microsoft product and John Thompson, who headed the CEO search committee, would take over as chairman.
Gates said that Nadella's vision for how technology will be used and experienced around the world is exactly what Microsoft needs as the company enters its next chapter of expanded product innovation and growth.
The report said that as Ballmer retires from his role, the most pressing question facing Nadella would be whether it's worth keeping Microsoft's different pieces together like Xbox, Bing, or recasting the company with fewer lines of business.
With the big job at hand, Nadella has to work out where to point Microsoft, essentially a leader in the PC industry, in a world increasingly dominated by tablets and software that resides on the cloud.