Boston, MA, 11/20/2013 (wallstreetpr) – On Tuesday, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Chairman Bill Gates expressed his content over the company’s progress of finding a new CEO, although he highlighted the difficulties in selecting a suitable candidate as the company focuses to adapt to the dynamic tech world changes.
As Steve Ballmer completes his stint with the company, the committee specifically formed for the selection of the CEO is believed to have zeroed down on a handful of candidates.
Gates said at the company’s annual shareholder meeting held at Belleve, Washington that the company is making satisfactory progress and is going through an elaborate process of shortlisting candidates both externally and internally. However, Gates declined to give an exact timeline on the decision for the final candidate.
In August, Steve Ballmer had announced his plans to step down by the close of the year, after which John Thompson, a former IBM executive and independent director took over the charge to head the CEO search committee to appoint a new CEO before Ballmer’s exit. According to anonymous sources, a new CEO could be named by January next year.
Gates, who apparentlydid not appear to be an active commentator in the shareholder’s meeting described the complexity of finding the right person to fill in as CEO for the company. He further stressed on the fact that the new CEO has to function in a complex global environment and has the responsibility to drive the highly technical talent in a direction to best utilize the hidden opportunities.
At the time of addressing the shareholder’s meeting, Gates thanked Ballmer for his contribution to the company.He further added that both he and Ballmer has an impending commitment to make sure that the right candidate is chosen for the company. It’s notable that the company has had only two CEO’s, Gates and Ballmer during its rich history of 38 years.
