UPDATED 10:17 EDT / JULY 08 2016

NEWS

Microsoft COO Kevin Turner quits, will not be replaced

Microsoft has announced that long-serving COO Kevin Turner is to leave the company after 11 years. The company will not replace him, but will instead split his duties between five different executives.

Turner exits Microsoft and heads directly to the financial trading firm Citadel Securities LLC, where he has landed the job of CEO. Turner had been expected to quit Microsoft after being overlooked for the role of CEO following Steve Balmer’s departure, though he decided to stick around.

However, Nadella informed employees of Turner’s departure in a company-wide email on Thursday, in which he also outlined plans to reorganize the executive leadership team.

According to Nadella, it’s necessary to have “one feedback loop” across the company in order to reinforce customer satisfaction and value. As a result, the sales, marketing and services group will be more deeply integrated with the rest of the company under a single leadership team.

As such, five Microsoft executives will take over Turner’s duties. These include Judson Althoff, who will lead Microsoft’s Worldwide Commercial Business with a focus on the Enterprise and Partner Group, Public Sector, Small and Midmarket Solutions and Partners, the Developer Experience team, and services.

Jean-Philippe Courtois, who has spent years heading up Microsoft’s international business, now assumes responsibility for North American sales and marketing as well. He’ll become the new head of Global Sales, Marketing and Operations.

Chris Capossela, who has the title of Chief Marketing Officer, will be tasked with leading the Worldwide Marketing and Consumer Business, which encompasses the company’s consumer channels group, Microsoft Retail and its partnerships with OEMs.

CFO Amy Hood will take charge of the sales, marketing and services finance team, in addition to the central finance team she already leads. Hood will also assume control of worldwide licensing and pricing.

Last but not least, Kurt Del Bene, Microsoft’s chief corporate strategy officer, will be given responsibility for IT and Operations.

Althoff and Courtois thus join Microsoft’s senior executive team, which means they’ll report directly to Nadella. It’s undecided how the new Worldwide Marketing and Operations team will report.

According to Nadella, Microsoft’s global subsidiaries could well be given more autonomy in the way they conduct business, though this wasn’t explicitly confirmed. However, Nadella said that the world requires solutions that are local in nature, which means the company should trust the insight local teams have into their customers needs.

Under the new initiative, Microsoft’s subsidiaries would still be accountable for their financial objectives, but they would be given more capabilities and greater flexibility to innovate and optimize of their own backs, Nadella said. He invited company employees to attend a Q&A session at 8:30 a.m., Pacific Time, to discuss the plans in more detail.

In his email, Nadella praised Turner for his achievements during his time as head of Microsoft’s sales team. He said Turner had managed to double the company’s sales revenues during that time, while helping to drive customer satisfaction ratings to “the highest in company history”.

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