Microsoft has reportedly said that it will not be announcing its new CEO anytime before 2014, putting speculations to rest about an early hire.

Member of the Microsoft board, who has been leading the search for outgoing chief Steve Ballmer's successor, John Thompson said that the company has filtered its list of candidates from 100 to 20 to a smaller, though unspecified, number.

According to the Guardian, Thompson further said that as the list of potential successors has been narrowed and they have done deeper research, which is expected to be completed in the early part of 2014.

The frontrunners in the CEO race include ex-Nokia chief Stephen Elop, Ford CEO Alan Mulally, Microsoft's cloud computing head Satya Nadella among others.

The report said that Ballmer led the company from January 2000 and announced in August that he would retire within the next 12 months.

Microsoft has only had two chief executives in its 38 years: co-founder Bill Gates and Ballmer, who had been in the company almost from its beginning, the report added.