Who’s next up to serve as chief executive officer of Microsoft? Of course, no one really knows. But PCWorld writer Mark Hachman took a crack at determining which tech bigwigs are the most likely to become the next CEO of the tech giant. Here are a few of his thoughts.
Stephen Elop
Stephen Elop carries a big advantage when it comes to the CEO spot: He's spent a lot of his career working at Microsoft. As Hachman points out, which means that he understands how the tech giant operates. Elop joined Microsoft's business division in 2008 before moving into its Office group and Microsoft Dynamics. Starting in 2010, he commenced serving as Nokia's executive vice president of devices and services.
The engineer
Another leading name on Hachman's list is Alan Mulally, a lifelong engineer who starred at Boeing before moving onto Ford as its president. Since 2006, Mulally has helped move the automotive company through the roughest days of the economy. He has since returned Ford to profitability, and he made it happen without relying on handouts from the federal government.
The rising star
Tony Bates is a bit of a rising star in the tech world. He enjoyed much of his success throughout a long career at Cisco. Prior to leaving the company, he oversaw thousands of employees as senior vice president of enterprise, commercial and small business. He has since moved on to serve as chief executive officer of Skype, where he has labored to expand the role that VoIP plays in the business world.