Feb 06, 2014 09:53 GMT Possible reasons why Stephen Elop was not chosen as ’s CEO

Many were expecting that ex- CEO Stephen Elop would become the next CEO at Microsoft. However, someone else was chosen to lead the Redmond firm. This was . So what happened?

ZDNet reports, “Elop was mentioned during early days of the hunt by many as the most likely to become the next Microsoft CEO -- especially in the period just after Microsoft announced its plan to buy Nokia's devices and services business. Elop formerly headed up Microsoft's Office business before joining its biggest partner. Microsoft is in dire need of a better mobile strategy. Boom. The next CEO has got to be Elop, a number of company watchers (and at least one of my reporting colleagues) predicted.

“But then a couple of things happened. First, details about Elop's controversial post-Nokia compensation plans (inextricably intertwined with reports about his in-process divorce) went public. Then there was a sources-said report that claimed Elop was in favor of selling off Bing and the Xbox. Given Microsoft management's insistence that Microsoft couldn't and shouldn't abandon its consumer properties, those claims about Elop's supposed plans were damning. For the past few months, Elop's name seldom bubbled to the top of any rumored CEO candidate lists.”

What now for Elop? The site says, “As things currently stand, it's business as usual. Elop is set to become head of Microsoft's expanded devices business, with Larson-Green and her troops reporting to him. Turner remains the COO, but not involved in centralized marketing (and only partially involved with OEMs), following last July's "One Microsoft" reorg. And Bates, the former CEO of Skype, remains head of business development and evangelism.” Were you rooting for Elop? Drop a comment below.

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