Redmond, Wa., USA - January 31, 2014, Redmond, Wa., USA - Microsoft Corporation announced that it has appointed Satya Nadella as its new chief executive officer and memeber of the board.
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Mr. Nadella has been with Microsoft since 1992 and currently serves as President of Server & Tools at Microsoft Corporation and served as its Executive Vice President of Cloud & Enterprise group.
He and his team deliver the Cloud OS, Microsoft's next generation backend platform.
Previously, Mr. Nadella was President of Microsoft's Server and Tools Business, and he was Senior Vice President of Research and Development for the Online Services Division and Vice President of the Microsoft Business Division.
Mr. Nadella leads Microsoft's engineering in the Online Services Division, which includes the Search (Live Search), Portal (MSN) and Advertising platforms.
He served as the Head of Dynamics business software development of Microsoft Corporation and also served as its Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Business Solutions and Search & Advertising Platform Group.
Mr. Nadella was part of Business Solutions when the division was formed by combining the bCentral, Great Plains and Navision a/s groups.
Before that, he served as General Manager for the Commerce Platforms Group and led the development efforts for Microsoft Commerce Server and Microsoft BizTalk Server.
Mr. Nadella was also a key member of several advanced technology incubation efforts inside Microsoft, including interactive television (ITV) and digital rights management (DRM).
His first assignment at Microsoft was in the Windows Developer Relations group, where he was a Program Manager.
Prior to joining Microsoft, Mr. Nadella was a member of the technology staff at Sun Microsystems Inc.
He has been a Director of Riverbed Technology, serves as a Director of BravoSolution US, is a Member of Advisory Board at Nirvaha, and was a Director of Intelliprep Technologies.
Mr. Nadella attended Hyderabad Public School in Begumpet before getting a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Communication from the Manipal University.
He earned Master of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. He also completed Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago.
The company also announced that Bill Gates, previously Chairman of the Board of Directors, will assume a new role on the Board as Founder and Technology Advisor, and will devote more time to the company, supporting Nadella in shaping technology and product direction.
Mr. Gates is founder, technology advisor and board member of Microsoft Corporation.
On June 27, 2008, Gates transitioned out of a day-to-day role in the company to spend more time on his global health and education work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He shares his thoughts about the foundation and other topics on Gates Notes.
John Thompson, lead independent director for the Board of Directors, will assume the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors and remain an independent director on the Board.
Mr. Thompson joined the Microsoft Board in February 2012 and became independent chairman of Microsoft Corporation on February 4, 2014.
He is the chief executive officer of privately held Virtual Instruments and the former chairman and CEO of Symantec Corp.
He is an active investor in early-stage technology companies in Silicon Valley.
During his 10-year tenure as CEO of Symantec, Mr. Thompson helped transform the company into a leader in security, storage and systems management solutions.
Previously, Mr. Thompson held a number of leadership positions at IBM, including sales, marketing, software development and general manager of IBM Americas, and was also a member of IBM's Worldwide Management Council.
Mr. Thompson has served on a number of government boards and commissions, including the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, the National Infrastructure Advisory Committee, and the Silicon Valley Blue Ribbon Task Force on Aviation Security and Technology.
Mr. Thompson formerly served on the national board of Teach for America, an organization dedicated to eliminating educational inequities for all children.
He has also served on the boards of NIPSCO (Northern Indiana Public Service Company), Fortune Brands, Seagate Technologies, and UPS. ■