14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft's internal reorganization continues with a new executive shake-up announced today by CEO Satya Nadella, who revealed that Stephen Elop, the current head of the Devices and Services division, would leave the company “after a transition period.”
Nadella didn't provide a reason for Elop's departure, but he in turn announced a newly formed team called Windows and Devices Group, which will be led by Executive Vice President Terry Myerson and will combine the efforts of the Operating System Group and Microsoft Devices Group.
At the same time, Nadella revealed that Executive Vice President Scott Guthrie would continue to lead the Cloud and Enterprise (C+E) team, with the Dynamics development teams to join it in order to accelerate ERP and CRM work.
Executive Vice President Qi Lu will remain the head of the Applications and Services Group (ASG).
Together with Stephen Elop, Kirill Tatarinov and Eric Rudder will also leave Microsoft later this year. Chief Insights Officer Mark Penn has decided to leave too, but Nadella says that his departure has no connection with today's changes.
“We are aligning our engineering efforts and capabilities to deliver on our strategy and, in particular, our three core ambitions,” said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. “This change will enable us to deliver better products and services that our customers love at a more rapid pace.”
The Microsoft Senior Leadership Team will include 12 executives, as follows:
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Satya Nadella | Chief Executive Officer |
| Chris Capossela | Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer |
| Kurt DelBene | Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Planning |
| Scott Guthrie | Executive Vice President, Cloud and Enterprise |
| Amy Hood | Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer |
| Kathleen Hogan | Executive Vice President, Human Resources |
| Peggy Johnson | Executive Vice President, Business Development |
| Qi Lu | Executive Vice President, Applications and Services Group |
| Terry Myerson | Executive Vice President, Windows and Devices Group |
| Harry Shum | Executive Vice President, Technology and Research |
| Brad Smith | Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Legal and Corporate Affairs |
| Kevin Turner | Chief Operating Officer |
The Trojan horse
Elop's departure is definitely a surprising move for Microsoft, especially because he returned to the software giant with big fanfare after the acquisition of Nokia's Devices and Services unit in 2014.
Elop was often referred to as Microsoft's Trojan horse, because after having previously headed Redmond's business division, he left to become the CEO of Nokia in 2010. His strategy at Nokia was heavily criticized, mostly because of dropping revenues and market value, with the Finnish phone manufacturer eventually being purchased by Microsoft.
Once the acquisition was completed, Elop returned to Microsoft in a high-profile role, so many accused him of joining Nokia only to “destroy” the company and make it a purchasable asset for the software giant.
“As for the Trojan horse thing, I have only ever worked on behalf of and for the benefit of Nokia shareholders while at Nokia,” Elop strongly denied after Nokia was sold to Microsoft. “Additionally, all fundamental business and strategy decisions were made with the support and approval of the Nokia board of directors, of which I was a member.”
Elop is yet to comment on his departure from Microsoft, but it'll be interesting to find out more information on the reasons behind this decision.