Microsoft announced Tuesday that insider Satya Nadella will immediately succeed Steve Ballmer as the company's next CEO. The company also announced founder and former CEO Bill Gates will step aside as chairman of the board of directors.
Outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer led the tech giant since Jan. 13, 2000. During his tenure, the stock posted an annualized return of -0.62% vs. the S&P 500 which returned 3.3% during the same period. However, Microsoft outpaced the S&P 500 Information Technology index by 90 basis points on an annualized basis over the same period.