14 DAY TRIAL // Steve Ballmer will soon retire from his CEO position at Microsoft, so the tech giant continues to look for a viable replacement that could help the company get back on track.
Nokia boss Stephen Elop is one of the candidates and, according to betting website Ladbrokes, he’s now in pole position for the Microsoft CEO seat.
At this point, Elop is leading the bets with a 5/1 odd, followed by Microsoft’s Kevin Turner with 6/1. Former Windows boss Steve Sinofsky is third with 8/1, while Julie Larson-Green is only fourth with the same odd.
Bill Gates and Tim Cook are also included in the charts with odds of 50/1 and 100/1, respectively, but both are highly unlikely to get the Microsoft CEO seat anytime soon.
In fact, Gates has already denied every report claiming that he could return to Microsoft, explaining that he only wants to continue his charity work around the world.
Gates, on the other hand, is a key member of the committee in charge of finding a new CEO, as the company’s board is hoping to deal with this problem as soon as possible.
“As a member of the succession planning committee, I’ll work closely with the other members of the board to identify a great new CEO,” said Gates. “We’re fortunate to have Steve in his role until the new CEO assumes these duties.”
As for the reasons why Steve Ballmer decided to retire, nothing is known at this point, but sources familiar with the matter claim that ValueAct Capital, the company that recently purchased a $2 billion (€1.5 billion) stake in Microsoft, tried to get rid of the CEO following the poor sales performance of Windows 8 and Surface.
And still, Ballmer has quickly denied all these rumors, but at the same time, he refused to provide any other specifics on his decision to retire.