<p>Microsoft's cloud chief, Satya Nadella, will lead the company as its next chief executive, according to a report from Bloomberg.</p><p>Microsoft's board is "preparing to name" Nadella chief executive, Bloomberg reported Thursday afternoon. Nadella, whose official title is executive vice president of Microsoft's Cloud and Enterprise group, had been one of the front-runners in the race to replace current chief executive Steve Ballmer, who said last August that he planned to step down within a year.</p><p>[ Also on InfoWorld: An open letter to Microsoft's next CEO: 12 wishes from the Windows faithful. | For quick, smart takes on the news you'll be talking about, check out InfoWorld TechBrief -- subscribe today. | Find out what topics and issues affect tech's biggest names and news makers in the IDGE Insider CEO interview series. | Read Bill Snyder's Tech's Bottom Line blog for what the key business trends mean to you. ]</p><p>But the board is also considering replacing Bill Gates as chairman of the company, Bloomberg reported, ousting the company's co-founder and possibly replacing him with John Thompson, Microsoft's lead independent director. If Gates is to go, as PCWorld suggested last year, it would remove two of Microsoft's iconic employees from the software giant.</p><p><a href="http://www.infoworld.com/d/the-industry-standard/report-satya-nadella-be-named-microsoft-ceo-gates-out-too-235420">Keep reading...</a></p>