DHAKA: Microsoft Wednesday published a short blog post from John Thompson, a member of its board and the chair of its search committee for its next CEO.

The entry stated that from an initial pool of 100 candidates, Microsoft narrowed to 20, a figure that has since shrunk, and that the board expects to make a choice in the ‘early part of 2014’.

This pushes back against the narrative that Microsoft intended to announce their new CEO inside of 2013, controlling expectations, and tamping down potential speculation if that rumoured deadline was not met.

According to Thompson, the ‘full board’ is now involved with the remaining candidates, a pool that has been said to include internal executives such as Satya Nadella and Tony Bates, as well as external candidates from time to time, such as, until recently, Ford’s Alan Mulally among others.

The full pool of potentials won’t be public likely ever, but we in the press have had a decent time parsing through leaks and other forms of derivative horse racing, reports techcrunch.com.

BDST: 1658 HRS, DEC 18, 2013
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor