When Steve Ballmer announced last year his plans to retire as CEO of Microsoft, many wondered who would be named successor to the crown. With that formal announcement today, we have learned that there were multiple leadership changes to be made. First, that Satya Nadella is now the new CEO, second that Bill Gates was resigning as Chairman and one of Microsoft's current board members, John Thompson, would take that role. And that Bill Gates would have a new title as technology advisor. Steve Ballmer will remain on the board of directors. Certainly bigger changes then many expected.
So what does this change mean? With Thompson as the new Chairman and Nadella as the new CEO, will Microsoft take a new direction? Will Microsoft devote more attention to hardware or embrace a larger software in the cloud focus? Surely the hope is that this new leadership will invigorate the company and create more technological innovation than has been seen.
