(Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. named Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella as board chairman, replacing John Thompson, who will return to the role of lead independent director that he held before being named chairman in 2014.

The change announced Wednesday is a vote of confidence in Nadella, who was named CEO in February 2014. Thompson has been scaling back his work as chairman over the past few years, Microsoft said. Nadella and Thompson have been discussing the change since last fall.

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