14 DAY TRIAL // Ford’s Alan Mulally is officially out of the CEO race for Microsoft, which leaves the Redmond-based tech giant with several internal options, including cloud boss Satya Nadella and Tony Bates, executive vice president of business development and evangelism.
Microsoft analyst Rick Sherlund described the news of Mulally’s withdrawal as “disappointing,” adding that an internal CEO would be significantly influenced by the board, which will likely include both Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer.
While he explained that both Bates and Nadella have what it takes to be a CEO, Sherlund noted that they are “more likely to take direction from Microsoft's board rather than redirect the board and take the company in a different direction as we prefer.”
And still, an external CEO is still possible, he added.
“We believe there are likely still several external candidates for the position that could be positive for the stock, with an increasing probability it could be an internal candidate (say 35% chance in our view) such as Satya Nadella or Tony Bates, who we view as the leading internal candidates,” Sherlund wrote.