Article

Microsoft COO Kevin Turner To Depart, Nadella Shuffles & Centralizes Leadership

by Dann Anthony Maurno
Assistant Editor, MSDW

Microsoft employees awoke to a blanket email from CEO Satya Nadella about a "Senior Leadership Team Update." He informed the company that COO Kevin Turner would leave the company for the CEO spot at Citadel Securities.

Bloomberg reports that Turner was a CEO candidate before Nadella was appointed. The move seems amicable, but Microsoft Chairman John Thompson let slip in May that the board was considering changes to the sales and partner organizations to boost revenue.

Nadella praised Turner highly - "Kevin built the sales force into the strategic asset it is today..." and "More than doubling revenue and driving customer satisfaction scores to the highest in the company history."

Still, Nadella is taking the opportunity to restructure and centralize Microsoft management. Nadella describes discussing with Turner that it is important to have one feedback loop "across all parts of the company with customer value and satisfaction at the center." That calls for more collective thinking and coordinated effort; and that is why Nadella is will "integrate the current [Sales, Marketing and Service Group] SMSG organization into the rest of Microsoft to form one unified senior leadership team."

Turner will stay in his role until the end of July. Effective immediately: 

  • Judson Althoff will lead the Worldwide Commercial Business, which will focus on the commercial segments, inclusive of EPG, Public Sector, SMS&P, DX and Services.
  • Jean-Philippe Courtois will lead Global Sales, Marketing and Operations, which span all of Microsoft's 13 areas across our North America ...

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About Dann Anthony Maurno

Dann Anthony Maurno is a seasoned business journalist who began his career as International Marketing Manager with Lilly Software, then moved on as a freelancer to write for such prestigious clients as CFO Magazine; Compliance Week;Manufacturing Business Technology; Decision Resources, Inc.; The Economist Intelligence Unit; and corporate clients such as Iron Mountain, Microsoft and SAP. He is the co-author of Thin Air: How Wireless Technology Supports Lean Initiatives(CRC/Productivity Press, 2010).

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