Before Satya Nadella, These Were The Top Candidates For The Post Of Microsoft CEO

While we all know how successful Satya Nadella has been in the role of Microsoft CEO, not many of us might be aware that he was not the only choice for that role in 2014. Before Satya Nadella became Microsoft CEO in February 2014, these were the other top candidates which were being considered for the role.

Vanya GautamUpdated: Feb 27, 2024, 13:23 IST

2 min read

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Ten years ago, in the year 2014, Satya Nadella was named Microsoft��s CEO, succeeding Steve Ballmer. Fast forward to today, Microsoft is only the second company in the world to hit the $3 trillion market cap milestone, with Tim Cook��s Apple being the only other company to have achieved that feat.

While we all know how successful Satya Nadella has been in the role of Microsoft CEO, not many of us might be aware that he was not the only choice for that role in 2014.

Before Satya Nadella became Microsoft CEO in February 2014, these were the other top candidates which were being considered for the role:

Before Satya Nadella, These Were Top Candidates For Microsoft CEO Role

satya nadella microsoft ceo ap

Satya Nadella was among the top 4 candidates reportedly picked by the Microsoft board for the CEO's position. The other three candidates were: Ford CEO Alan Mulally, former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, and former Skype president Tony Bates.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally

Alan Mulally/medium

Alan Roger Mulally is an American aerospace engineer and manufacturing executive. He served as the CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes from 1998 to 2006, and later as President and CEO of the Ford Motor Company from 2006 to 2014.

Former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop

Stephen Elop nokia/nyt

Stephen Elop had worked for Nokia as its first non-Finnish CEO, from 2010 to 2014. Later he also played the role of Executive Vice President, Devices & Services in 2014-15, as well as the head of the Microsoft Business Division. From 1998-2006, he had worked at Adobe.

Former Skype president Tony Bates

Tony Bates skype/mercurynews

Currently the Chairman and CEO of Genesys, Tony Bates was also among the candidates considered by Micrisoft for CEO role in 2014. Bates had worked at Microsoft as EVP from 2011-14, and earlier as Skype CEO briefly in 2010-11.Before that, he had worked in CISCO for 14 years.

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