Satya Nadella, who became CEO of Microsoft in 2014, is now also chair of the board. Microsoft’s board voted unanimously to award Nadella with the board chair role on June 16.
Current Microsoft board chair John W. Thompson will be staying on the board as lead independent director — a post he held on the board from 2012 to 2014. Thompson led Microsoft’s search for a new CEO from 2013 to 2014.
“In this (chair) 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,” according to a company statement. “As a 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 co-founder Bill Gates left Microsoft’s board in March 2020. Gates ceased his day-to-day duties at Microsoft on June 27, 2008. However, he continued as Microsoft’s chairman of the board until February 4, 2014, and then as a regular board member after that.