Prior to the announcement of Satya Nadella as Microsoft’s new CEO there was a lot of speculation about how Ballmer’s successor would run the company. There were rumors about the Xbox unit being spun-off from the main company but Nadella has reiterated his commitment to Microsoft’s gaming arm. The company’s co-founder and first CEO Bill Gates however says that he would support a spin-off if it were to be proposed by the current CEO.
Gates made these comments during an interview with Fox Business in which he was asked about his new role at the company. Following Nadella’s appointment Gates stepped down as chairman and took an advisory role. He no longer spends majority of his time at Redmond but advises the CEO on product related issues.
According to Gates the new CEO is “off to a great start” and has been doing just fine on making major decisions on his own. There was speculation that Nadella would have to struggle with authority as Gates would presumably be giving more time to Microsoft. That isn’t the case. Gates won’t inhibit his decision making process and says that the decision to spin-off the Xbox division lies entirely with the team and Nadella. When asked if he would support such a decision Gates simply replied “Absolutely.”
Bill Gates also said that Microsoft is always evaluating its businesses and despite tough competition from Google, Bing remains “very fundamental” to the company since it can be used in a wide range of Microsoft products. His comments show support for the new CEO’s authority who takes over Microsoft at a very crucial time.
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