Sources close to the hunt for Steve Ballmer's replacement told the Bloomberg newswire that preliminary interviews have already taken place with candidates, with the aim of announcing the new leader before 2014.
Ballmer said he would leave within a year when he announced his shock retirement in August. Since then he's bid Microsoft employees an emotional farewell at the company's annual employee meeting, but also applied to retain his position on the Microsoft board.
Among those rumoured to be candidates to replace him are Ford CEO Alan Mulally, former Nokia chief Stephen Elop and Microsoft's own business development chief and former Skype CEO, Tony Bates. Former Windows chief Steven Sinofsky is another wildcard candidate.
However, candidates for the job have also begun to rule themselves out, according to Bloomberg. eBay CEO John Donahoe has asked not to be considered for the role.
Certain Microsoft shareholders would like to see the company move in a new direction with the appointment of the new CEO. Three of the company's top 20 investors are pushing for Bill Gates to resign as company chairman, amid fears that the Microsoft founder won't embrace a radical change in direction for the company.
However, Gates and Ballmer remain the two single biggest shareholders in the company and both are standing for re-election to the board, and are highly likely to win sufficient support.
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