Microsoft shake-up sees senior figures depart including devices chief Stephen Elop
The chief executive of Microsoft’s devices group, Stephen Elop, is leaving the company as part of a raft of senior organisational changes.
An email from Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, to employees confirmed that Elop would be leaving the company “after a designated transition period”.
The email said that Microsoft was “aligning engineering teams to strategy” and that “this change will enable us to deliver better products and services that our customers love at a more rapid pace."
Elop was the former CEO of Nokia and joined Microsoft early last year after overseeing the sale of Nokia to Microsoft. He was primarily responsible for Microsoft's Lumia devices and was seen as a potential future chief executive of the company until Nadella took the role.
Another key departure is the executive vice president of advertising and strategy, Mark Penn. Penn was a key figure behind the highly criticised Scroogled ad campaign which attacked google.
Other key figures leaving include Microsoft executives Kirill Tatarinov and Eric Rudder. Tatarinov led Microsoft's business solutions group, and Ruder was responsible for the company's advanced strategy.
Microsoft’s reorganisation will see Windows chief Terry Myerson take on more responsibility. Myerson will take over a new team called the Windows and Devices Group. He will be focused on Microsoft devices and the engineering of Windows.