The Sunday Times: What if Nokia’s Stephen Elop were to Replace Ballmer as MS CEO? What could it mean for Nokia?

This shouldn’t be too far fetched to believe. It was already postulated by some the moment Stephen Elop became Nokia CEO that somehow he would return and take over from Ballmer. Now, The Sunday Times has a short list for the next few possible CEOs to replace Ballmer. The Times article is under a paywall but other names mentioned  which included:

• Tony Bates, former Skype manager
• Paul Maritz, former CEO of VMWare

I don’t know if there were other names. Bill Gates is mentioned by WPC but they note the Times did not back that claim.

What if Sinofsky returns? Any other candidates? OPK? Mr Vanjoki :p

• What does this mean for Nokia if Stephen Elop leaves and becomes chief of Nokia? [Android…could Nokia exit the exclusivity deal? They’re too far into WP now and are making small but visible gains and recognition]
• Even stronger emphasis on speeding up WP development perhaps after having strong affinities at Nokia?
• Who will replace Elop? BALLMER? 😛
• Some comments mentioned a MS-Nokia merger (as opposed to a buy out). MS is really keen on becoming a devices and services company. So far, Nokia is producing the best hardware on WP, and arguably compared to the competition (if WP permitted top end specs to tick those boxes). The rumoured Nokia tablet seems to bring some excitement into the otherwise seemingly shunned RT. Talks of MS buying Nokia failed due to Nokia supposedly costing too much. I wonder how the NSN purchase will affect things?

Stephen Elop, based on the interviews we’ve seen and having met him in person, seems to be the type that loves a challenge. Is Nokia a bigger challenge at the moment and so will he stay until he turns it around completely? We’re seeing small signs of improvement but there’s still a big way to go in this long-term strategy.

Maybe MS is the bigger challenge and Nokia CEO was like CEO-work experience.

Source: The Sunday Times

Via: WPC

Sorry for the ramble, in the middle of Uni work :/.

Cheers Alvester for the tip

Category: Lumia, Nokia