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By Nadia Damouni and Bill Rigby NEW YORK/SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp is likely to appoint its cloud-computing head, Satya Nadella, as its next chief executive, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday, as the board concludes a five-month search for a tech-savvy heavy-hitter to lead the worlds largest software company. As part of the move, co-founder Bill Gates may step aside as chairman and be replaced by lead independent director John Thompson, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity because the process is private. Rising star Nadella, a native of Hyderabad, India – where Microsoft has its largest non-U.S. research center – was promoted to run the companys fast-expanding cloud, or internet-based, computing initiatives in July last year as part of current CEO Steve Ballmers radical re-organization of the company. The appointment of the 22-year Microsoft veteran would make him the most powerful Indian-born tech executive in the world and put him alongside PepsiCo Incs chief, Indra Nooyi, as the leader of a well-known, large-cap U.S. corporation.