From Nokia chief to Bill Gates, guessing game begins on new Microsoft CEO

Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop demonstrates the camera technology of the company's latest high-end smartphone, the Lumia 1020, at the company's headquarters in Espoo, during an interview with Reuters, July 17, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Ritsuko Ando

LONDON | Tue Aug 27, 2013 5:51pm BST

LONDON (Reuters) - As Steve Ballmer bows out of Microsoft Corp, the guessing game over who will replace him has started with a British bookmaker putting Nokia's Stephen Elop as the favourite.

Ballmer, 57, unexpectedly announced his retirement last Friday after more than three decades at the world's largest software company, including 13 years as chief executive.

With no heir apparent, Ladbrokes opened up betting on successors for Ballmer who will depart within the next year, with Elop, 49, topping a list of 26 candidates with odds of 5/1.

British and Irish bookmakers offer a wide range of bets as a niche sideline to more lucrative wagers on sports. Online gambling is far more restrictive in the United States.

Elop, a Canadian, led Microsoft's business division before becoming chief executive of the Finnish firm Nokia in 2010 with a brief to revive the once-undisputed leader in mobile phones.

Senior Nokia employees say he has forced them to make faster decisions. But Nokia's ability to compete in the global smartphone market is increasingly questioned; its market share stands at around three percent, far behind Samsung and Apple which control around 50 percent between them.

Internal Microsoft candidate Kevin Turner, chief operating officer, is second favourite with odds of 6/1 to replace Ballmer, according to Ladbrokes. In third is former Microsoft executive Steve Sinofsky, who left the company last November.

The top female candidate in the stakes is internal head of devices and studios, Julie Larson-Green, in fourth place.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is ranked as a 50/1 shot to return to fill the void but he is considered more likely than rank 100/1 outsider Tim Cook, CEO at Apple.

Ladbrokes' spokesman Alex Donohue said the market was a "who's who of high fliers" in the technology world. "With a year to go we anticipate that this market will smash all previous records for technology betting," Donohue said in a statement.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith; Editing by Pravin Char)

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Balcombe Fracking: Test Drilling Begins

Energy company Cuadrilla has started test drilling for oil in the countryside - as anti-fracking protests enter a ninth day.

The project has been subject to days of delays because of high-profile protests designed to halt delivery of trucks and equipment to the plant.

But the energy company confirmed that equipment had now been tested and test drilling had begun.

A Cuadrilla spokesman said: "We started test drilling at 11.15am, and we will do a 3,000ft vertical well. We will be there for two to three months."

Campaigners fear the project at Lower Stumble, near Balcombe, West Sussex, could lead Cuadrilla to go on to conduct hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

The controversial method of fracking involves high pressure liquid being pumped deep underground to split shale rock and release gas supplies.

Protests have entered their ninth day

Opponents of fracking have highlighted concerns about potential water contamination and environmental damage, as well as small-scale earthquakes.

Police have had to throw up a daily security operation around the test site's entrance as dozens of anti-fracking protesters have turned out to halt deliveries.

Sussex Police confirmed two people - a man and a 19-year-old woman - were arrested on Friday on suspicion of assaulting police officers. More than 30 people have been detained since last Friday, mainly on suspicion of obstructing deliveries.

This week Cuadrilla's chief executive, Francis Egan, reacted to concerns surrounding the drilling.

He said his firm has "no intention of ruining the countryside and won't ruin the countryside".

Police contained protesters who were stopping vehicles accessing the site

Mr Egan insisted hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, was safe and would not pose a threat to the public or people's drinking water.

He said "significant" amounts of oil and gas could be made available through fracking in the UK.

But he acknowledged his firm's activities had been delayed as a result of protests against its exploratory drilling activities in West Sussex.

The sensitivity of the subject was highlighted after former Government energy adviser Lord Howell issued an apology for suggesting fracking could be used in "desolate" North East England without any impact on the surrounding environment.

Lord Howell went on to provoke further criticism when he tried to clarify his comments by suggesting he actually meant "unloved" areas in the North West, such as Lancashire.

His attempt at clearing up the controversy prompted Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to urge Lord Howell to be quiet.

Mr Clegg also suggested that the Conservatives were getting "over-excited" about the controversial extraction technique's potential benefits.

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Balcombe Fracking: Test Drilling Begins

Energy company Cuadrilla has started test drilling for oil in the countryside - as anti-fracking protests enter a ninth day.

The project has been subject to days of delays because of high-profile protests designed to halt delivery of trucks and equipment to the plant.

But the energy company confirmed that equipment had now been tested and test drilling had begun.

A Cuadrilla spokesman said: "We started test drilling at 11.15am, and we will do a 3,000ft vertical well. We will be there for two to three months."

Campaigners fear the project at Lower Stumble, near Balcombe, West Sussex, could lead Cuadrilla to go on to conduct hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

The controversial method of fracking involves high pressure liquid being pumped deep underground to split shale rock and release gas supplies.

Protests have entered their ninth day

Opponents of fracking have highlighted concerns about potential water contamination and environmental damage, as well as small-scale earthquakes.

Police have had to throw up a daily security operation around the test site's entrance as dozens of anti-fracking protesters have turned out to halt deliveries.

Sussex Police confirmed two people - a man and a 19-year-old woman - were arrested on Friday on suspicion of assaulting police officers. More than 30 people have been detained since last Friday, mainly on suspicion of obstructing deliveries.

This week Cuadrilla's chief executive, Francis Egan, reacted to concerns surrounding the drilling.

He said his firm has "no intention of ruining the countryside and won't ruin the countryside".

Police contained protesters who were stopping vehicles accessing the site

Mr Egan insisted hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, was safe and would not pose a threat to the public or people's drinking water.

He said "significant" amounts of oil and gas could be made available through fracking in the UK.

But he acknowledged his firm's activities had been delayed as a result of protests against its exploratory drilling activities in West Sussex.

The sensitivity of the subject was highlighted after former Government energy adviser Lord Howell issued an apology for suggesting fracking could be used in "desolate" North East England without any impact on the surrounding environment.

Lord Howell went on to provoke further criticism when he tried to clarify his comments by suggesting he actually meant "unloved" areas in the North West, such as Lancashire.

His attempt at clearing up the controversy prompted Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to urge Lord Howell to be quiet.

Mr Clegg also suggested that the Conservatives were getting "over-excited" about the controversial extraction technique's potential benefits.

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