Microsoft's search committee, responsible for finding a replacement CEO for the world's largest tech company, announced on Tuesday that its going to be finished finding a new leader in early 2014.
The chair of the committee, John W. Thompson, made the announcement on the official Microsoft blog. Thompson was a member of Microsoft's board of directors before he was tasked with finding a replacement for Steve Ballmer, who announced his retirement back in August.
In the blog, he detailed where the search for a new CEO is and identified the "early part of 2014" as the window for the search committee's work to be done.
"After defining our criteria, we initially cast a wide net across a number of different industries and skill sets. We identified over 100 possible candidates, talked with several dozen, and then focused our energy intensely on a group of about 20 individuals, all extremely impressive in their own right. As you would expect, as this group has narrowed, we've done deeper research and investigation, including with the full Board," the blog post read.
What wasn't present in the new information is any indication as to how many candidates remain or whether they come from inside or outside of Microsoft. Some rumors have said Nokia CEO Stephen Elop and Ford CEO Alan Mulally are among the top candidates to take over for Ballmer. Elop was a major part of the company's recent acquisition of Nokia earlier this year.
Balmer has served as the company's CEO since 2000. His noteworthy contributions to the company includes green lighting the original Xbox.
Whoever the search committee chooses will be the third CEO in the company's entire history. The first being founder Bill gates, who held the position from 1975 through 1999. Gates still remains the chairman of the board in addition to his philanthropic work.
