Microsoft has carried out a major restructuring of its leadership team which will include the key exit of Stephen Elop, former Nokia CEO, from the company. Satya Nadella announced this move through an email to all employees. Elop had joined Microsoft when it acquired Nokia in 2013, along with other Nokia employees such as Jo Harlow, Juha Putkiranta, Timo Toikkanen, and Chris Weber. Interestingly, at the time of acquisition, Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer announced that he would retire within 12 months after a 13 year stint at the company. Elop was considered to be one of the top contenders for this position, however in February 2014, Satya Nadella was appointed as Microsoft’s new CEO. Note that Elop originally worked at Microsoft before joining Nokia as its CEO. This move was largely regarded as a precursor to Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia. On acquisition, Elop had stepped down from the CEO role to become Microsoft/Nokia’s executive vice president of Devices & Services, which included all of Microsoft’s Devices and Studios work and most of the teams coming over from Nokia. Other exits: Kirill Tatarinov, president of the Microsoft Business Solutions Division (MBS), Eric Rudder, executive vice president of advanced strategy and Mark Penn, executive vice president and chief strategy officer have all made an exit from the company. Tatarinov was with the company for close to 13 years. Restructuring: Terry Myerson will now be responsible for the Windows and Devices Group (WDG). This group is a merger of the company’s Operating Systems…
