Mullaly On Short List to Head Microsoft

TTAC Staff
by TTAC Staff

Looking for a change in leadership once CEO Steve Ballmer steps down, Microsoft has announced its shortlist of five potential candidates, including current Ford CEO Ford Mullaly.

Alongside former Skype CEO Tony Bates, former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, and two other internal candidates, Mullaly made the cut after the Redmond, Wash.-based software proprietor looked over 40 names from industries including life science and consumer. That said, it seems Microsoft is looking from its well of partnerships (Ford via SYNC and its successor MyFord/MyLincoln Touch) and purchases (Skype and Nokia) for the final decision.

While Microsoft remained mum on the search, Ford spokesperson Jay Cooney had this to say:

There is no change from what we announced last November. Alan remains fully focused on continuing to make progress on our One Ford plan. We do not engage in speculation.

On Mullaly’s part, he has said repeatedly that he continues to plan to stay with the Blue Oval through the end of 2014, though there are inklings from those in the know that he could leave earlier for a new opportunity elsewhere should such a thing were to occur; Boeing has also been mentioned as a possibility for Mullaly’s Midas touch.

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  • Ellomdian Ellomdian on Nov 06, 2013

    'Short' list - Mulally, Elop, Bates, and Nadella. Also multiple internal canidates, and per the article; "The names of other candidates could not be learned, but the search committee is interviewing executives from a wide range of sectors, including life sciences and consumer, the sources said." Did I just miss the part in the article where "5" candidates came from? The headline says 'about' 5, and then contradicts itself... I would still be amazed if they handed the reins to someone who wasn't more familiar with the tech sector (and my money is on Elop - they really want a bigger slice of the mobile device pie.)

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    • Ellomdian Ellomdian on Nov 07, 2013

      @28-Cars-Later "The business world tires of MSFT" My dad and I used to talk about this, back in the IE6 launch days. It's popular to talk about "The Business/Enterprise/Professional World" and their opinion on enterprise partners, but the existing install base and atrophy by inertia means it is all so much hot air. If anything, the 'business world' is more enamored with MS and their SAAS movement than ever before - being able to rid yourself of a depreciating asset, and write off an expense as a monthly cost (instead of having to cost it out over multiple years) has most Accountants I work with more excited than a new Tax Code. It's easy to poke fun at the Surface and Win8 ads. Just like it was easy to laugh at MS's first-gen XBox marketing. MS very much wants to be in your living room, in your car, in your pocket, and with you at work. It's foolhardy to compare MS and Apple (or even talk about Android marketshare, since MS made $2bn last year from royalties on that 'competing' platform) - when you talk about MS, you really need to look at IBM and wonder what would happen if Big Blue still cared about the consumer space...

  • Areader Areader on Nov 06, 2013

    If his ego is so out of control that he crawls into the Microsoft hairball, he'll get what he deserves. MS is a disaster and has been a melting ice cube since way before Gates ran from it. Balmer has made Gates look good, but Gates himself has said things "were almost remedial" when he left. Microsoft exists strictly because top management at IBM was too clueless to realize the future that microchips would bring. IBM was well along in killing off all competition in the computing field and would be what IBM, Intel and Microsoft combined are today if they had designed a proprietary chip and operating system instead of buying off the shelf crap from Intel and Microsoft. This enormous failure of management judgement on the part of IBM meant that the likes of Compaq, Dell, Gateway and others could also buy the same chip and OS from Intel and MS and sell PCs just as good as IBM's and eventually commoditize the business and cause IBM to bail. IBM couldn't be bothered to develop their own operating system for the PC. They went to MS, but MS had nothing to sell. Eventually MS bought what would become DOS from Tim Patterson for $50k. Gates' old man was a lawyer and somebody came up with the brilliant idea of forcing the PC makers, other than IBM, to pay a license for MSDOS to MS on a 'per PC sold' basis whether MSDOS was installed or some other OS like Unix for example. This had the effect of making MSDOS free so eventually killed Unix, etc. MS struggled for years to get some version of Windows running that was at all usable. Where is MS in the mobile market? Nowhere. Google "doj microsoft findings of fact" to see how MS broke the law over a period of years to build the house of cards they have today. Other than being handed a winning hand by IBM and using lawless behavior to ride that gift, we would have never heard of Microsoft. For a little more about the 'character' of Gates, google "Paul Allen: Gates, Ballmer tried to rip me off". I've read recently that Gates intends to work closely with Balmer's successor. Should be interesting.

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    • LeeK LeeK on Nov 07, 2013

      One has to remember that IBM management had a Justice Department anti-trust case against them at the time the Personal Computer was introduced in 1983. The thinking was that if the PC was allowed to continue vertically integrated like Apple did and does (hardware, CPU, and software), they would have surely been broken up into small companies like the DOJ did to AT&T. Where IBM blew it was the development of OS/2 (which Microsoft wrote 70% of). Allowing Microsoft to break from the alliance and go alone with Windows 3.1 was the bold move that Microsoft needed to stop "riding the Bear" and led to their phenomenal success of the 90s. IBM lost that potential PC market and never recovered, selling the entire PC unit to Lenovo in 2005.

  • APaGttH APaGttH on Nov 06, 2013

    Windows 8.1 - MyFordTouch - it's a match made in Hell. errr Heaven I mean, Heaven.

  • Mjz Mjz on Nov 06, 2013

    I received a letter today. I have been put on the Short Hairs List to Head Microsoft. That's good, right?

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