14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft continues the search for a new company leader, but even though the newly founded committee said that it was looking into both internal and external candidates, analysts believe that the next CEO is very likely to come from Redmond.
“The Board of Directors has appointed a special committee to direct the process,” Microsoft said in a public statement last Friday when it officially announced Steve Ballmer’s retirement.
“This committee is chaired by John Thompson, the board’s lead independent director, and includes Chairman of the Board Bill Gates, Chairman of the Audit Committee Chuck Noski and Chairman of the Compensation Committee Steve Luczo. The special committee is working with Heidrick & Struggles International Inc., a leading executive recruiting firm, and will consider both external and internal candidates.”
But Sid Parakh, an analyst at fund firm McAdams Wright Ragen, tells Reuters in a short statement that internal candidates are very likely to be favored, despite recent rumors claiming that some people from outside the company are in pole position to get the job.
“It does seem like if they are going to continue down the path of this devices and services strategy that they probably get somebody who was part of formulating this strategy or who can stand fully behind it. I don't know if most outside candidates would be willing to do that.”
This isn’t necessarily a good thing, though. Someone who worked for Microsoft in the past few years comes with the same old culture that could continue the company’s decline. External candidates, on the other hand, are expected to adopt several new ideas that would pretty much represent a breath of fresh air for the Redmond-based tech giant.
“The issue with internal candidates is that Microsoft has cultivated a holding-company style culture so very few execs are broadly exposed to all areas of the business,” said Al Hilwa, an analyst at tech research firm IDC.