“Microsoft Corp.’s board is considering Ericsson AB Chief Executive Officer Hans Vestberg as a potential successor to departing leader Steve Ballmer, according to people briefed on the search,” Dina Bass, Jonathan Erlichman, Beth Jinks and Peter Burrows report for Bloomberg. “Vestberg, 48, is in the running alongside other candidates, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the process is private. Microsoft cloud-computing chief Satya Nadella and former Nokia Oyj CEO Stephen Elop, as well as other outsiders, are also on the list, people familiar with the search have said. The board hasn’t yet reached a decision and who is under consideration is still subject to change.”
“The search has been dogged with difficulty. Any new CEO will have to turn around Microsoft, whose main software business is struggling. At the same time, the Redmond, Washington-based company has made limited headway in fast-growing markets such as smartphones and tablets,” Bass, Erlichman, Jinks and Burrows report. “Ballmer and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who together hold about 8 percent of the stock, are also on the board. Their presence has deterred some candidates, raising concern that a new CEO might lack independence in the role, said people familiar with some of the candidates’ thinking.”
“Vestberg joined Ericsson in 1988 and served as the company’s chief financial officer from 2007 to 2009 before becoming CEO in January 2010. He has held management positions at Ericsson in China, Brazil, Mexico and the U.S., the company said on its website,” Bass, Erlichman, Jinks and Burrows report. “Since becoming CEO, Vestberg has overseen the dismantling of the Sony Ericsson handset joint venture…”
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MacDailyNews Take: Dismantling overseer. Sounds like the perfect guy to write what’s left of the Microsoft story.
