Microsoft today announced changes to the company’s Senior Leadership Team as it looks to realign management to its goals. Among the changes will be some executive departures. Of particular note is that former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop will be leaving the company.
“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.”
Elop, who left Microsoft to to become Nokia President and CEO in 2010, returned to the company when Microsoft acquired Nokia’s Devices & Services business unit in 2014 in a US$7.2 billion deal. Back at Microsoft, he led the new Microsoft Devices Group which includes Nokia’s business as well as other hardware products and reported directly to Nadella.
In an email to employees, Nadella explained that “Stephen and I have agreed that now is the right time for him to retire from Microsoft. I regret the loss of leadership that this represents, and look forward to seeing where his next destination will be.”
Executive Vice President Terry Myerson will head up a new team called the Windows and Devices Group (WDG) that will include not only the Operating Systems Group but also the Microsoft Devices Group.