Bulletins

Satya Nadella will take over as chairman of Microsoft's board

He's replacing longtime chairman and former Symantec CEO John W. Thompson, who will serve as lead independent director.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

Nadella has steered Microsoft toward major growth.

Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft has named CEO Satya Nadella as its new chairman, the company announced Wednesday.

Nadella replaces John W. Thompson, who will step into the role of lead independent director after spending seven years as Microsoft's chairman. Both votes were unanimous, Microsoft said.

The vote gives Nadella even more authority over the company he's led since 2014.

Thompson, meanwhile, will still have "significant authority" on the company's board, Microsoft said. For example, he'll be leading Nadella's performance evaluations.

Other companies have been moving away from having CEOs also serve as board chair. Yet Nadella has steered Microsoft toward major growth. The company's stock price has soared more than 400% in the last five years and now has a market cap of $1.94 trillion.

Nadella also ranked as Glassdoor's sixth-most popular CEO this year, with a 97% employee approval rating.

Allison Levitsky
Allison Levitsky is a reporter at Protocol covering workplace issues in tech. She previously covered big tech companies and the tech workforce for the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Allison grew up in the Bay Area and graduated from UC Berkeley.
microsoftsatya nadella
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Bulletins