News this week from Microsoft indicates another key executive is leaving the software giant. An e-mail Thursday from CEO Steve Ballmer told employees that Bill Veghte, a 19-year veteran who was senior vice president for the Windows division, will leave at the end of the month.
While Ballmer praised Veghte’s contributions to Windows, it appears Veghte may have felt he was passed over in July when another Microsoft veteran, Steven Sinofsky, became president of the Windows division. Both played major roles in the launch of Windows 7, and Microsoft’s promise of a new role for Veghte apparently never materialized.
In Microsoft’s fiscal first quarter, Windows sales were off 39 percent before the release of Windows 7 in October. Many businesses showed reluctance to commit to the trouble-plagued Windows Vista, choosing instead to stick with tried and true Windows XP.
Other Recent Departures
On New Year’s Eve, Alex Kochis resigned as director of Microsoft’s Genuine Software program. In a posting on the Genuine Windows Blog, Kochis said goodbye and said it had “been truly great working” at Microsoft.
Other key players who have left Microsoft over the recent past include CFO Chris Liddell, now the CFO at General Motors; Debra Chrapaty, Microsoft’s data-center chief; Kevin Johnson, formerly head of the Windows division; Rob Short, who was the Windows technical lead; and Joanne Bradford, who was chief media officer.
Destination Unknown
In his e-mail to Microsoft staffers, Ballmer thanked Veghte for his important contributions over the past two decades. While not revealing his next destination or specific plans, Ballmer wrote that Veghte “has indicated a desire to run a business in a more end-to-end fashion” somewhere within the broad technology, communications and services sectors.