News
        
        Microsoft's CEO Search Reportedly Narrowing to Inside Candidates
        
        
        
			- By Jeffrey Schwartz
- January 30, 2014
The search for Microsoft's next CEO  may end as soon as next week, with the title  likely going to someone  within the company, according to a report Thursday by Re/code's  Kara Swisher.
Swisher's report comes after Ericsson CEO    Hans Vesberg, whom Microsoft had reportedly been considering as a candidate, said he would not accept an offer from Microsoft. While some sources have told Swisher that the CEO search    committee still hasn't ruled out naming an outsider to the position, the leading contender is now Satya  Nadella, Microsoft's enterprise and cloud head, according  to the report. 
Nadella is a strong candidate, having worked in numerous groups  during his   two decades at the company. Nadella has also managed perhaps the most    critical and profitable pieces of Microsoft's business. 
Two   other  insiders are also still contenders, according to Swisher -- Stephen   Elop, former Nokia CEO and onetime Microsoft president,  and Tony Bates,  who led Skype and now leads business development   and OEM relationships for  Microsoft. 
CNBC, a Re/code partner, on Thursday morning noted  two    others that are still in the mix: Microsoft COO Kevin Turner and   Paul  Maritz, a onetime insider who later became CEO of VMware and now   runs the Pivotal Software business within VMware parent company EMC. However, Maritz has previously indicated that he is not interested in the CEO position.
Several unnamed  sources   close to Microsoft told Swisher that the company could announce the new CEO within a week. 
The CEO search is into its sixth month, and the long wait to see  who will   lead Microsoft is taking a toll on morale at the company, according to    Swisher. Failure to name  a new CEO could cast a shadow on key Microsoft events  -- including  SharePoint Conference, Build 2014 and TechEd 2014 -- that are kicking off in a few   months and are expected to reveal the direction of the company's key   offerings.
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
            
        
        
                
                    About the Author
                    
                
                    
                    Jeffrey Schwartz is editor of Redmond magazine and also covers cloud computing for Virtualization Review's Cloud Report. In addition, he writes the Channeling the Cloud column for Redmond Channel Partner. Follow him on Twitter @JeffreySchwartz.