Microsoft CEO Candidates: Ford CEO Mulally Not Leaving in 2014?

If Microsoft’s (MSFT) search committee was hoping to pin its chief executive badge on current Ford (F) head Alan Mulally to replace its outgoing boss Steve Ballmer, there might be some long faces in Redmond.

Speaking at the introduction in Dearborn, Mich., of a new Mustang, Edsel Ford II, the great grandson of company founder Henry Ford and a Ford board director, said Mulally “is staying through the end of 2014 and that’s all I know,” according to a Bloomberg news report.

“Frankly, he has told us that his plan is to stay with Ford through the end of 2014,” Ford II said via Bloomberg.

Mulally himself said in a Bloomberg Television interview there was “no change to the plan,” although he stopped short of confirming Ford II’s timetable and, perhaps most importantly, didn’t confirm or deny he was discussing the chief executive job with Microsoft, deferring to the moment at hand of the new Mustang.

Mulally is generally regarded as a strong candidate to replace Ballmer, and in some circles is considered, along with current Microsoft Cloud and Enterprise Executive Vice President Satya Nadella, the sweepstakes leaders. Microsoft Devices head and former Nokia (NOK) chief executive Stephen Elop and former Skype chief and current Microsoft Business Development head Tony Bates still are in the running but said to be long shots at this juncture.

According to the Bloomberg report, even amid the swirling news of Mulally’s reported candidacy to replace Ballmer, Ford’s board is confident enough that it has felt no need to urge its chief executive to issue a public statement of his commitment to the automaker.

Microsoft has said it wants to fill Ballmer’s slot sooner rather than later, and if the company is a serious suitor for Mulally’s services, director Ford II's public statement could be interpreted a number of ways, including cooling his trail to the Northwest or offering reassurance to the automaker’s shareholders.

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting Nov. 19 that he and the board’s search committee are “pleased with the progress” of interviewing both internal and external candidates for Ballmer’s replacement.

“It’s a complex role to fill—a lot of different skills, experience and capabilities that we need. It’s a complex global business that the new CEO will have to lead,” he said.

Mulally has been positioned as the candidate to beat in many corners but some observers worry he’d be more of a caretaker than a pioneer, someone who will refine the company’s culture and organization but not necessarily see and jump in early on IT trends.