Ericsson's (Nasdaq: ERIC) Hans Vestberg is the latest executive rumored to be favored to take over the CEO role at Microsoft (Nasdaq: ERIC), reports Bloomberg, citing people briefed on the software vendor's search.
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Other candidates include Microsoft cloud-computing chief Satya Nadella and former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop.
John Thompson, Microsoft's independent director who is heading the search, wrote in a blog post in December that the company's board plans to complete the CEO hiring process in the "early part of 2014." Microsoft's current CEO, Steve Ballmer, said last August that he planned to retire within a year.
Neither Microsoft nor Ericsson would comment on Vestberg.
Ola Rembe, a spokesman for Stockholm-based Ericsson, told Bloomberg that "we never comment on rumors and speculation."
Likewise, Microsoft would not provide a comment.
Besides Vestberg and Elop, Ford's Alan Mulally was considered as another candidate but has said that he would not be leaving the car company.
Any candidate that takes over as the leader of the company would face a number of challenges. They would have to find a way to revamp the core software business and find a way to work cooperatively with both Ballmer and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who are both board members and own about 8 percent of the company's stock.
For more:
- Bloomberg has this article
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