Microsoft names CEO Satya Nadella as chairman

Decision of the top-level executive change-taken Wednesday, comes just over a year after Bill Gates stepped down from the board, saying he would focus on philanthropic works of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) which is one of the world's biggest charity corporation.

Satya Nadella took over as CEO in 2014 from Steve Ballmer, scaling up business including billion-dollar acquisitions like LinkedIn, Nuance Communications and ZeniMax.

Reportedly, former chairman John Thompson will serve as lead independent director.

Thompson took over as chairman from the software giant's co-founder Bill Gates in 2014.

Last month, the company conducted a probe into Mr. Gates' involvement with an employee almost twenty years ago after it was told in 2019 that he had a romantic relationship with the person.

However, Microsoft had declined to comment on whether its board had decided Mr. Gates should go.