Microsoft Corp on Wednesday named Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella as its new chairman, in place of John Thompson. Microsoft said Thompson, who took over as chairman from Bill Gates in 2014, will serve as lead independent director. Nadella has been instrumental in scaling up its business including billion-dollar acquisitions like LinkedIn, Nuance Communications, and ZeniMax.
“In this role, 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. As lead independent director, Thompson 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” Microsoft said in a statement.
