Microsoft’s Nadella Named CEO to Transform PC Pioneer

Microsoft Corp. named Satya Nadella chief executive officer, tapping an insider steeped in business technology to speed up a turnaround at a software maker that helped usher in the personal-computing age, only to be left behind as the world embraced the Web and mobile devices.

Nadella, 46, is replacing Steve Ballmer effective immediately after a five-month search, Microsoft said in a statement today. Bill Gates, the company’s first CEO, will step aside as chairman, devote more time to product development as a director and continue running his philanthropic foundation. John Thompson, the director who led the CEO search, becomes chairman.