Gates and new Microsoft CEO Nadella look like they’ll be joined at the hip

Microsoft obviously isn’t the easiest company to manage but new CEO Satya Nadella will have a powerful ally helping him out in the early going: Cofounder Bill Gates. TechCrunch notices that Gates said during an Ask-Me-Anything session on Reddit that Nadella specifically asked him to stick around at Microsoft and help advise him on products. TechCrunch notes that having Gates working with him will greatly help Nadella out since “in Redmond, Gates is still god, and Nadella can use god’s backing to make sure that his dictums are law.” For what it’s worth, famous Silicon Valley gossip monger Bob Cringely said last week that Nadella would be wise to keep Gates by his side because he’s the only person within Microsoft powerful enough to stand up to outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer, who will remain on the company’s board of directors even after stepping down from his current post.