Report: Bill Gates and Nadella Opposed Nokia Acquisition at First

A newly published report by Business Week has shed some more light on the thoughts of the Microsoft board and current CEO Satya Nadella on their position regarding the Nokia acquisition. Initially the CEO at the time, Ballmer was the biggest supporter for the acquisition, hoping to buy not only the Devices and Services division, but also the mapping segment, however Bill Gates, as well as Nadella were strongly opposed to the idea, afraid to move away from Microsoft’s position as a Software manufacturer at heart.

Since then of course Nadella has changed his position regarding the acquisition saying:

“Nokia brings mobile-first depth across hardware, software, design, global supply chain expertise and deep understanding and connections across the mobile market,” Nadella said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. “This is the right move for Microsoft”

After reworking out the agreement, and removing the mapping division from the deal, and a second round of voting Nadella sided with Ballmer’s wish to acquire Nokia (while Gates still refused). Apparently however Elop was only set to come back to Microsoft after round to of the negotiations (at Ballmers request?).

In February 2013, on the eve of the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona, he reached out to Nokia Chairman Risto Siilasmaa and started the talks that resulted in the agreement the board kicked back. Then the handset-only deal was hammered out; it included bringing Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, a former Ballmer lieutenant, back as head of a new devices unit.

Even on Ballmer’s senior team, the acquisition wasn’t universally popular. In the straw poll, several executives initially voted against it, including Nadella and Bates, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Nadella later sided with Ballmer, while Gates remained staunchly opposed.

All this of course went down before Nadella was announced as CEO, and Elop was still a viable candidate for the CEO position.

Read the full article at the source link below:

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Category: Lumia, Nokia, Windows Phone