Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Given Additional Charge As Chairman

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Given Additional Role As Chairman

Microsoft’s Telugu –origin CEO Satya Nadella (53) has been named the company's Chairman, an additional charge in which he will “lead the work to set the agenda for the board.”   

Microsoft Corp on Wednesday announced that the board's independent directors unanimously elected Nadella to the role of board chair, and unanimously elected John W Thompson as the lead independent director, a role he held previously from 2012 to 2014.

 Nadella will lead the work to set the agenda for the board, leveraging his deep understanding of the business to elevate the right strategic opportunities and identify key risks and mitigation approaches for the board's review,” the company said in a statement.

Thompson as the lead independent director will retain significant authority including providing input on behalf of the independent directors on board agendas, calling meetings of the independent directors, setting agendas for executive sessions, and leading performance evaluations of the CEO, the technology giant said in its release. Satya Nadella had succeeded Steve Ballmer to become Microsoft's CEO in 2014. He has been instrumental in scaling up the Redmond, Washington-based company's business including billion-dollar acquisitions like LinkedIn, Nuance Communications and ZeniMax. The top-level executive change comes just over a year after Gates stepped down from the board, saying he would focus on philanthropic works.

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