Microsoft has a new CEO. Oddly, at the same time the Microsoft Founder and first CEO, Bill Gates, has given up his Chairman seat to become something called ‘technology advisor’ to Nadella. I say oddly because it seems that Gates is descending from the mount of Chairman to the trenches and actually go back to work at Microsoft on a regular basis…regular being a commitment to spend at least a third of his time there and pull back from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which has been filling up most of his time.
It’s very strange times at Microsoft. The media is filled with doom and gloom stories about Microsoft’s coming fall and yet in the six months to December their revenues were $43 Billion, up 15% from the previous year while net was $11.8 Billion, up 8.8%. Not to mention the company is sitting on $84 Billion in cash. Kind of hard to feel sorry for them.
Although he gave up his Chairmanship, Gates will remain on the board as will the Steve Balmer who Nadella replaces. Hardly the break with the current situation that many had looked for. The founder and his successor as CEO both looking over your shoulder at everything you do while the founder actually gets to “give you advice” 15 hours a week…with the entire world watching.
Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?
Nadella has more than 22 years at Microsoft. Apparently after interviewing more than 100 top executives, many CEOs of major corporations, the best was hanging around inside running the cloud and enterprise group. It does cause you to wonder. What was the critical factor in the selection?
Would a well known CEO of a global company really want to go to work with Gates and Ballmer watching over him and Gates showing up to give advice every few hours? Was the selection committee worried about hiring someone who really expected to run things without those guys hovering over him? Did they discover that Nadella has a vision for future success he kept hidden until he knew he was a possibility for the Big Job?
Who knows? Not me.
The most interesting thing is that it opens up a whole collection of issues and questions about finding the right person to become CEO…and what to do with the previous ones. A collection of issues and questions that many face and yet few seem to fully evaluate and think through.
It is so hard to be objective when your own future is at stake in the decision…and your own past will be evaluated against the results of the new person.
The fun thing for all of us on the outside looking in is…we get to predict how they did and what will happen with no particular effect on ourselves. Unless I suppose, you own Microsoft stock or happen to be tied to their products and services in some way.