Microsoft gets a new CEO

Today Microsoft announced that Satya Nadella will be taking over as CEO of Microsoft.  Satya has been with the company for over two decades and has a strong background in servers and enterprise software development.  He will succeed Steve Balmer who has run the company since Bill Gates stepped out of the role in 2000.  

In a letter to Microsoft employees he talks about Microsoft's role in mobile and cloud development and talks about the transformative power of software in business but doesn't mention hardware or entertainment at all.  It will be interesting to see what Mr. Nadella does with the entertainment division given that it is outside of his previous worldview and there are many analysts who have suggested that Microsoft is better off selling the entertainment division (including the Xbox division) as it's hurting their bottom line.  Then again that was before Microsoft blew past analyst expectations last month.

I doubt we'll get any decision on the entertainment division until later this year.  With the release of Titanfall next month and the newness of the Xbox One I doubt we'll see them rush to sell off the division so soon after the launch of the Xbox One.  That said it will be something to keep track of as the year progresses.