MICROSOFT NAMES SATYA NADELLA CEO

He's the third CEO in the company's history.

Nadella is the executive vice president in charge of Microsoft's cloud and enterprise group, a fast-growing and lucrative division of the company. He's been a Microsoft employee for over 20 years and has worked as a VP in the company's business and online services divisions.

It's not a big surprise Microsoft's board picked Nadella. Last week, several reports began trickling out that Microsoft had chosen him. The company's board reportedly made its final vote over the weekend, only taking a break to watch the Seattle Seahawks win the Super Bowl.

Microsoft began looking for a new CEO in August when Steve Ballmer announced he'd retire within a year or as soon as the board could find a replacement. Ballmer's decision to retire was a surprise, as he had previously said he didn't plan to do it until all his kids were in college, which wouldn't have been until 2017 at the earliest.

The board reportedly considered a few outside hires for the job, including Ford CEO Alan Mulally. It's likely that the board's decision to pick an internal candidate means it wants the company to continue its course. Right now, Microsoft is still struggling to catch up with the consumer shift to mobile computing devices like smartphones and tablets. Its newest operating system, Windows 8, is hybrid software designed to work on regular desktop or laptop computers plus touchscreen devices like tablets. But Windows 8 got a lukewarm reception, and Microsoft is now working on updates to make it easier to use on traditional computers. Meanwhile, Microsoft's other businesses like Office and Xbox are doing pretty well.

If Microsoft's board had landed on an outside hire, that would've been a sign that the company wanted to change its direction and possible focus on the growing parts of its business like enterprise software.