San Francisco, Jun 17 (IANS): Microsoft has elected CEO Satya Nadella as Chairman of the tech giant, a first in two decades when Microsoft's chairman will also be its CEO.

Bill Gates was the only other Chairman and CEO of Microsoft who stepped down as CEO in 2000.

Gates stepped down as chairman in 2014 and the board then elected John Thompson as independent chairman.

Gates left the Microsoft board entirely last year to pursue his philanthropic ambitions.

In this role as Chairman, Nadella will lead the work to set the agenda for the board, leveraging his deep understanding of the business to elevate the right strategic opportunities and identify key risks and mitigation approaches for the board's review, the company said in a statement late on Wednesday.

Microsoft also unanimously elected John Thompson as lead independent director, a role he held previously from 2012 to 2014.

As lead independent director, Thompson will retain significant authority including providing input on behalf of the independent directors on board agendas, calling meetings of the independent directors, setting agendas for executive sessions, and leading performance evaluations of the CEO, Microsoft said.

In addition to these role changes, the board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.56 per share.