Microsoft board close to naming Nadella as new CEO

NEW YORK/SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp is close to naming a new chief executive, most likely its cloud-computing head Satya Nadella, a source close to the matter said on Thursday, concluding a five-month long search for a heavy-hitter to lead the world's largest software company. As part of the move, co-founder Bill Gates may step aside as chairman but remain on the board, while lead independent director John Thompson will take on the chairman role, the source said on condition of anonymity because the process is private. Nadella, a native of Hyderabad, India - where Microsoft has its largest non-U.S. research center - was promoted to run the company's fast expanding cloud, or internet-based, computing initiatives in July last year as part of current CEO Steve Ballmer's radical re-organization of the company. Before his role in shaping Microsoft's cloud computing business, Nadella was in charge of the company's growing server and tools unit, following on from high-level roles in Microsoft's Office and Bing search engine teams.

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