Support NeoGAF

[Silent Viper]

Microsoft names CEO Satya Nadella as chairman | CNN Business

Satya Nadella is now even more powerful at Microsoft.

www.google.com

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Is Now Also Chairman of the Board

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been elected to also serve as chairman, replacing John W. Thompson, who returns to his role as lead independent director.

www.channelfutures.com

He still CEO and now also Chairman. MS board of directors love him i guess lol.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

MS all in on gaming!!

 

[LordBlodgett]

Microsoft was big under Ballmer, but they lacked a long term growth strategy. Microsoft has boomed under Nadella, and all of their divisions feel like they have long term strategies for growth. As a stockholder since 2012 I've been quite happy with Nadella and Microsoft's growth

 

[Oddvintagechap]

So, Sega on Wednesday?

 

[longdi]

i feel Phil may be moving upwards too. he has stabled the Xbox ship and set an immense direction. perhaps this is part of their reorg

 

[Zeypher]

Microsoft was big under Ballmer, but they lacked a long term growth strategy. Microsoft has boomed under Nadella, and all of their divisions feel like they have long term strategies for growth. As a stockholder since 2012 I've been quite happy with Nadella and Microsoft's growth

Pretty much. They have a proper growth strategy and are able to execute the said strategy.

 

[longdi]

Microsoft was big under Ballmer, but they lacked a long term growth strategy. Microsoft has boomed under Nadella, and all of their divisions feel like they have long term strategies for growth. As a stockholder since 2012 I've been quite happy with Nadella and Microsoft's growth

tbf stonks only went up since 2012...
too much brrrrbrrr fed liquidity i heard

 

[West Texas CEO]

 

[TLZ]

How's this gaming related? How will this affect gaming?

 

[nemiroff]

How's this gaming related? How will this affect gaming?

This was basically the guy who was convinced by Spencer to "go all in on gaming" despite Xbox being in a very bad place. The Xbox One was well on its way to be the last console by MS if it wasn't for these two guys (after the disastrous Xbox One launch, almost every higher up in Xbox "quit", except Spencer) . With a even higher status in MS, which elevates Spencer powers as well, this is definitely good news for Xbox.

 

[lh032]

hopefully he will focus on other department other than gaming.

 

[Chukhopops]

i feel Phil may be moving upwards too. he has stabled the Xbox ship and set an immense direction. perhaps this is part of their reorg

I hope it happens only so I can read the GAF thread about it.

 

[Zeroing]

How's this gaming related? How will this affect gaming?

Any MS news gets hyped here… they are few (fans ) but they are fast to make posts

 

[TLZ]

This was basically the guy who was convinced by Spencer to "go all in on gaming" despite Xbox being in a very bad place. The Xbox One was well on its way to be the last console by MS if it wasn't for these two guys (after the disastrous Xbox One launch, almost every higher up in Xbox "quit", except Spencer) . With a even higher status in MS, which elevates Spencer powers as well, this is definitely good news for Xbox.

Well I hope he stays the same and doesn't change.

 

[Zeroing]

i feel Phil may be moving upwards too. he has stabled the Xbox ship and set an immense direction. perhaps this is part of their reorg

Omg yes, Phill deserves it, it only took him 6 years to start doing stuff. He’s so fast and sexy at making decisions and turning the ship…or is it a boat? Anyway

I think soon he will run for presidency of USA ! It’s a perfect fit for him! Xbox needs him, America needs Phill Spencer!!!

Disclaimer I’m not American: good luck

 

[prinz_valium]

Microsoft was big under Ballmer, but they lacked a long term growth strategy. Microsoft has boomed under Nadella, and all of their divisions feel like they have long term strategies for growth. As a stockholder since 2012 I've been quite happy with Nadella and Microsoft's growth

2012 was the perfect time to buy the stock, right after the 2008 recession, dot com bubble burst and IPO

 

[LordBlodgett]

2012 was the perfect time to buy the stock, right after the 2008 recession, dot com bubble burst and IPO

For me it was because I was an IT manager at the time and was trying to upgrade from a crappy onsite Groupwise email server, and Office 365 and Google for Business were both competing for businesses. When we did the trials of both it was no contest, you got more for what you paid with through Microsoft, plus they actually answered the phone and provided support for businesses. Google for Business had less features, their support was online only, and it took them forever to respond to us.

It was also an easy sell. We could pay $500 a month for our 100 employees, and could change those licenses on a monthly basis, plus we would get the newest version of Office for all of the employees who needed. The other option was that we could pay nearly 12k upfront for a new server and Exchange licensing, as well as another 13k for Office 2013 licenses for the 35 people who needed. Then we would have had to upgrade in 3-5 years and go through a painful migration process. The convenience, customer support, and pricing were all wins.

As soon as I saw what they were doing with Office 365 I put like half of my 401k into Microsoft. It's been a pretty good decision

 

[Calverz]

This is good news for gamers and the industry. It means Microsoft will continue to be competitive for years to come. Hopefully Sony continue their success and both are competitive going forward. We all win

 

[longdi]

For me it was because I was an IT manager at the time and was trying to upgrade from a crappy onsite Groupwise email server, and Office 365 and Google for Business were both competing for businesses. When we did the trials of both it was no contest, you got more for what you paid with through Microsoft, plus they actually answered the phone and provided support for businesses. Google for Business had less features, their support was online only, and it took them forever to respond to us.

It was also an easy sell. We could pay $500 a month for our 100 employees, and could change those licenses on a monthly basis, plus we would get the newest version of Office for all of the employees who needed. The other option was that we could pay nearly 12k upfront for a new server and Exchange licensing, as well as another 13k for Office 2013 licenses for the 35 people who needed. Then we would have had to upgrade in 3-5 years and go through a painful migration process. The convenience, customer support, and pricing were all wins.

As soon as I saw what they were doing with Office 365 I put like half of my 401k into Microsoft. It's been a pretty good decision

i thought the office 365 model will be more expensive in long run since most of us can make do with 5 years old office

 

[ZywyPL]

i feel Phil may be moving upwards too. he has stabled the Xbox ship and set an immense direction. perhaps this is part of their reorg

I hope he stays as XB head for quite a while. There's still a lot of work to be done, and if you put someone else in charge with his own approach or vision, chances are he'll ruin all what's been done so far to move past that terrible XB1 launch. IMO Spencer should leave/move on only once GP becomes a self-sustained platform, so that he'll leave the division in a really, really healthy condition, which means he needs to stay at least for this entire generation, which is 7-8 years.

 

[Silent Viper]

Omg yes, Phill deserves it, it only took him 6 years to start doing stuff. He’s so fast and sexy at making decisions and turning the ship…or is it a boat? Anyway

I think soon he will run for presidency of USA ! It’s a perfect fit for him! Xbox needs him, America needs Phill Spencer!!!

Disclaimer I’m not American: good luck

Phill or Satya as president is good for America.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

i feel Phil may be moving upwards too

He already kinda under Nadella directly....

 

[LordBlodgett]

i thought the office 365 model will be more expensive in long run since most of us can make do with 5 years old office

It is more expensive, but nobody feels it. You're paying a small amount monthly rather than getting wacked for $350 all at once. It's a brilliant model, and especially for smaller businesses which have a hard time supporting their own servers

 

[ripeavocado]

what's the difference?

 

[oldergamer]

Phil reports to nadella directly. I think phil really enjoys his role and probably doesn't want to run other divisions. He is overseeing a crazy level of growth that he wouldn't get in other divisions

 

[FeldMonster]

what's the difference?

CEOs report to the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors are elected by the shareholders, and often include internal and external directors (i.e. some are already employees of the company such as the CFO, CTO, CIO, etc., while others are not. Some people even serve on multiple boards and occasionally recuse themselves on decisions that might have a conflict of interest). Chairman of the Board is the top director within the board of directors. Therefore Nadella has gained power, as he is now kind of his own boss. He could still be overruled by the remainder of the board, and of course still "reports" to shareholders, but he is basically now fully trusted by the board of directors.

 

[Topher]

It is certainly well deserved. Nadella has kept Microsoft among the big boys as they are continually jockeying for position in the top 5 richest companies. Nadella's background is cloud engineering and that is where Microsoft's focus is as one of the leader in providing cloud services with Azure. He is undoubtedly the number one reason for Microsoft's ascent in the post-Windows Microsoft era.

 

[kikkis]

It is certainly well deserved. Nadella has kept Microsoft among the big boys as they are continually jockeying for position in the top 5 richest companies. Nadella's background is cloud engineering and that is where Microsoft's focus is as one of the leader in providing cloud services with Azure. He is undoubtedly the number one reason for Microsoft's ascent in the post-Windows Microsoft era.

I am not sure what exact measures or directions has Sadella taken. Aws seems still more popular than azure, and has azure done anything differently? I can understand why Ballmer was sacked after failures in mobile space. Interestingly if gaming division doesnt get more successful, it might be Nadella's downfall as well. I mean IIRC gaming is profitable, but investors might look at Sony's numbers and be disappointed.

 

[Topher]

I am not sure what exact measures or directions has Sadella taken. Aws seems still more popular than azure, and has azure done anything differently? I can understand why Ballmer was sacked after failures in mobile space. Interestingly if gaming division doesnt get more successful, it might be Nadella's downfall as well. I mean IIRC gaming is profitable, but investors might look at Sony's numbers and be disappointed.

Azure doesn't have to be more popular than AWS for Azure to be a financial cash cow which it absolutely is. I don't see Nadella's fate being tied to the gaming division at all. Either way, Xbox is in a good place. Even if Xbox never reaches PlayStation's level financially, it is growing and bringing in more money for MS stockholders. Ultimately, that's all that matters.

 

[MadPanda]

i feel Phil may be moving upwards too. he has stabled the Xbox ship and set an immense direction. perhaps this is part of their reorg

Spencer isn't moving up. He himself has stated that he doesn't have that ambition. He's gamer primarily and that's what interests him, not some business career.

 

[SaucyJack]

CEOs report to the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors are elected by the shareholders, and often include internal and external directors (i.e. some are already employees of the company such as the CFO, CTO, CIO, etc., while others are not. Some people even serve on multiple boards and occasionally recuse themselves on decisions that might have a conflict of interest). Chairman of the Board is the top director within the board of directors. Therefore Nadella has gained power, as he is now kind of his own boss. He could still be overruled by the remainder of the board, and of course still "reports" to shareholders, but he is basically now fully trusted by the board of directors.

Basically.

And this is a terrible decision from a Corporate Governance perspective.

 

[SaucyJack]

I am not sure what exact measures or directions has Sadella taken. Aws seems still more popular than azure, and has azure done anything differently? I can understand why Ballmer was sacked after failures in mobile space. Interestingly if gaming division doesnt get more successful, it might be Nadella's downfall as well. I mean IIRC gaming is profitable, but investors might look at Sony's numbers and be disappointed.

Microsoft has nearly doubled its share of cloud (from 10 to 19%) in the last 3 years whilst AWS has been fairly flat at a bit over 1/3.

 

[Spidey Fan]

Omg yes, Phill deserves it, it only took him 6 years to start doing stuff. He’s so fast and sexy at making decisions and turning the ship…or is it a boat? Anyway

I think soon he will run for presidency of USA ! It’s a perfect fit for him! Xbox needs him, America needs Phill Spencer!!!

Disclaimer I’m not American: good luck

Building a boat takes time. You can't take a boat to the sea, without parts, testing, and the necessary equipment for it to sail.
6 years was crazy for xbox. It would have take 1 and half generations to be where they are now.

5 to 23 studios. Gamepass for long term business plan. Strong ip (minecraft), focusing on pc and steam, so they can get extra funding for their division.

And now, they will have to make alot of studios. Buying studios isn't enough, because you are being left with enormous IPs that are being left around (banjoo Kazooie, and fallout ip). They will need dedicate studios for such an ips like that. And with Microsoft backing, they can expand their studios, and build new studios.

Overall, phill worked on the foundation of Xbox. Built the ground, so their won't be an issue at the top. Big games like Sony won't be available for them, but they can make unique games, which Sony can't even match it(flight simulator, forza horizon).

 

[CAB_Life]

Microsoft was big under Ballmer, but they lacked a long term growth strategy. Microsoft has boomed under Nadella, and all of their divisions feel like they have long term strategies for growth. As a stockholder since 2012 I've been quite happy with Nadella and Microsoft's growth

Ballmer was just so weird and awkward, especially with the profuse sweating and ranty stage theatrics. Nadella seems like a far more humble, balanced and charismatic face for the company.

 

[elliot5]

Good for Nadella. I trust his judgements. He seems like a solid CEO

 

[kikkis]

Microsoft has nearly doubled its share of cloud (from 10 to 19%) in the last 3 years whilst AWS has been fairly flat at a bit over 1/3.

Yeah, thats good result.

 

[Derktron]

How's this gaming related? How will this affect gaming?

Because it does.

 

[Fake]

Ok...I guess?

 

[Excess]

Well deserved.

He took a $25 stock in 2013 and turned it into $259.

 

[Croatoan]

Phil's legacy will be gamepass, pretty sure he is going to stick around for a bit to see that grow.