The Inside Scoop on Alan Mulally ….
Alan Mulally’s selection as CEO of Microsoft occurred only after directors on Microsoft’s CEO search committee approached internal candidates and at least eight outsiders. The Wall Street Journal reported that the outsiders included candidates from Oracle and Nokia as well as Mr. Mulalley.
“The idea of finding a CEO who is a visionary in everything is probably not realistic,” one person familiar with the search process said. Two candidates were considered form the computing company establishment. Charles Phillips, a former Oracle president now heading business-software firm Infor, and Paul Maritz, an ex-Microsoft executive now running corporate-software firm Pivotal would each have represented more conventional approaches than Mr. Mulally with his background in airplanes and automobiles. Microsoft shareholders, however, had expressed enthusiasm for the next CEO to be a seasoned operational expert such as Mr. Mulally, in part because they assume an outsider would be more willing to redirect resources away from less profitable, traditional parts of Microsoft that now date back to the company’s halcyon days as a competitor for IBM.
Mr. Mulally emerged as the most intriguing candidate after the board learned of his extensive role directing Boeing’s information systemes during the design of the 777. In addition Mr.Mullaly, while running Ford, has maintained a home in the Seattle area, is close personally to Mr. Ballmer and has served as a frequent adviser to the Microsoft CEO, including on a sweeping reorganization announced in July.
Mr. Ballmer has been promoting Mr. Mulally’s candidacy, according to people familiar with the search process. Mulally ties to both Bill Gates and his father William Gates II are also important. Both view themselves as patrons of Seattle the Seattle community, a role Mulallay continues while at Ford.
The Ave’s sources also related the Board’s concern about the change to a CEO who was not part of Microsoft’s history. The situation parallels Ford, where Bill Ford Jr. , Ford heir and then Executive Chairman lured Mr. Mulally from Boeing in 2006. Mr. Gates still has great sway in the board room as Microsoft’s chairman, co-founder and largest individual stockholder. His opinion was healily influenced by Mr. Mulally’s long term ties to Seattle and by what one confidant told us was a “respect for a fellow geek. Mulally is, after all, the man who engineered the first all computer designed airplane. This guy can debate technology even with Bill! ”
Mr. Mulally’s move to Microsoft from Ford has been carefully prepared. As noted already on THE Ave, Previously, Forf had announved that Mullaly, now 68, was considering stepping down and has committed only to staying at Ford through the end of 2014. Ford also promoted Mark Fields to chief operating officer and handed some of Mr. Mulally’s duties to him. Nikki and Alan Mulally have purchased a home in Broadmoor, a gated community that can provide inconspicuous security the new CEO will need and does not have at his current Seattle home. Broadmoor is also close to the 520 bridge, providing easy access to Redmond as well as to the Gates Foundation and to Bill Gaytes home on the other side of the bridge.
—Mike Ramsey and John D. Stoll contributed to this article.