Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been appointed board chairman of the tech giant on Wednesday. This gives him more power strengthening his influence at the world’s largest software maker after over seven years as the top executive.
The 53-year-old Indian-born CEO of Microsoft succeeds John Thompson.
The 72-year-old executive will remain active as lead independent director, overseeing Nadella’s compensation, succession planning, governance and board operations, Microsoft said in the statement.
Thompson returned a position he held before being named chairman in 2014. As per the company, the change is a vote of confidence in Nadella, who was named CEO in February 2014.
Nadella, the company’s third CEO, will also be the third chairman in Microsoft’s history, following Gates and Thompson. Steve Ballmer, the CEO before Nadella, never took the chairmanship as Mr Gates kept that power for Ballmer’s entire tenure.
At present, Microsoft has a market value of over $1.9 trillion, and the company’s shares have risen over seven-fold of Nadella’s tenure as the CEO.