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Microsoft Businesses

Microsoft Loses Two Key Executives 163

Posted by CowboyNeal from the changing-of-the-guard dept.
DIY News writes "Microsoft lost two key employees amidst major reorganization announced last month. One of them has led several MSN efforts and another who was a top developer for the Office unit. According to Microsoft, 'when you have a company of 60,000 employees, people are coming and going all the time.'"
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Microsoft Loses Two Key Executives More

Microsoft Loses Two Key Executives

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  • In Other Breaking News... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ackthpt ( 218170 ) * on Thursday October 27, 2005 @06:58PM (#13893160) Homepage Journal
    I'm drinking coffee and eating fresh coconut.

    Gagne: Undoubtably made very wealthy in his time at the big M and wants to blow his wad racing around in cars, outside the Microsoft parking lot.

    Partovi: Likely also found rolling around naked in money, wants to try another startup. (He probably noticed something Microsoft will need in the future and wants to develop it on his own and then sell it for more biggie bucks.)

    Neither of these will likely have much real impact so this is a Slow News Day article.

    Also, at the back of the papers is something about Nemesis has been spotted, it's heading toward the Sun and will reach it in 11 years, when we'll all die horribly. Hmm. Guess I don't have to worry about Social Security after all.

  • Lemme guess... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by TrappedByMyself ( 861094 ) on Thursday October 27, 2005 @06:59PM (#13893165)
    This is one of those threads where people get free Karma by pontificating about the impending demise of Microsoft.

  • Microsoft sure is heartless (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 27, 2005 @06:59PM (#13893167)
    I reallly hope they find these guys, for the sakes of their families. Sure, 60,000 is a lot of people, but losing people... wow, and Microsoft acts like it is nothing.
    • Losing one key employee is bad for business.
      Losing two key employees is carelessness.

      I understand that employee tours through the Gates' underground mansion now requires that
      each employee be roped to the next in line --
      so this will not happen again...

  • First thrown chair! (Score:5, Funny)

    by fuzzy12345 ( 745891 ) on Thursday October 27, 2005 @06:59PM (#13893170)
    First thrown chair!
    • First thrown chair!

      ohh noes111 its teh chair1 rnu gagme1 run partomi1

      rumor hazzit both executives were caught on IM by presidente Ballmer

  • Oh no! (Score:5, Funny)

    by mister_llah ( 891540 ) on Thursday October 27, 2005 @07:00PM (#13893173) Homepage Journal
    They lost a couple of key executives.

    I guess they'll have to just go to ACE Hardware for their keys, now, just like everyone else...

    ===

    It's not too much of a shocker, people DO come and go all the time, even at big companies... status quo, IMHO.

  • This is news because...? (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 27, 2005 @07:00PM (#13893174)
    Why is this news? So they had two people move on with their lives... shocker. I'm under the impression the person that submitted this story thought, "LOL M$ IS GING OT BE PWND BY LINUXES NOW!!!!1 LOL"

    What a stupid "story".

  • Music, Maestro! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Spy der Mann ( 805235 ) <spydermann...slashdot@@@gmail...com> on Thursday October 27, 2005 @07:00PM (#13893175) Homepage Journal
    Here's the appropriate lyrics [metrolyrics.com] for those who want to sing along.

    Altho this one [nyud.net] might be more appropriate.
    • "Microsoft loses two key...": UPDATED:

      REDMOND, WA (Reuters):
      Bill Gates dropped the bombshell in a recent interview after the exit of two key executives, one to spend more time with a racecar hobby, and the other to start his own company. "That's it," he said, with a shake in his voice. "We're closing up shop. Without these two guys, I just don't think I can do it anymore... Balmie and I just can't keep throwing chairs as if..." His voice trailed off, and he ended his statement prematurely, but a Microso

  • From TFA: (Score:5, Funny)

    by Frodo Crockett ( 861942 ) on Thursday October 27, 2005 @07:01PM (#13893180)
    Microsoft insiders report that the company still does not know exactly where the two executives went. Local law enforcement has become involved, and has collected a substantial amount of evidence, including two slightly bloody chairs. Microsoft has declined to comment on this evidence.

  • Why Is This On Slashdot? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by TheFlyingGoat ( 161967 ) on Thursday October 27, 2005 @07:03PM (#13893194) Homepage Journal
    when you have a company of 60,000 employees, people are coming and going all the time

    That's a very true statement, especially when a company is going through a reorganization. This means absolutely nothing other than a slow news day on Slashdot. I'm actually confused as to why this ended up getting approved for the front page.
  • I wonder if Google are recruiting? I believe Google is a popular destination for ex-m$ One of them can help deliver their google web hosted solutions and the other can help with their search facility.

  • Well, at least they didn't.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by GeneralEmergency ( 240687 ) on Thursday October 27, 2005 @07:04PM (#13893198) Journal

    ...leave to go work for Google.

    Good thing too.

    Balmer's office furniture allowance is all gone for the quarter.

  • Why Is This Front Page News?!! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 27, 2005 @07:04PM (#13893202)
    Stuff like this happens all the time at every company. This might be newsworthy in the financial backpages, but on slashdot it's a total non-story.

    But the editors know this is perfect trollbait to start flaming and mocking Microsoft. It's obvious that Microsoft bashing is a surefire way of driving pagehits up.

    Zonk, get a life. Post real news or get lost.
    • These are key executives, the latest in a series of past executives leaving the company when they need them most. The submission didn't emphasize the big news, which is that these are the guys who managed lead development for Office and the leader of several MSN initiatives.

  • Translation (Score:3, Interesting)

    by SeventyBang ( 858415 ) on Thursday October 27, 2005 @07:05PM (#13893210)


    On the first one, the summary of the story should be "There is one less executive after Microsoft reorganization" and should be self-explanatory. In the case of Office, everyone must remember it's Microsoft's ca$h cow (not Windows), now responsible for 1/3 of profit. Internally, someone didn't like the [current] progress or sales of Office.

    In the case of the second one, that's 50-50 as to whether it's a push or not.


  • Gates as Kirk in "Wrath of Khan" (Score:5, Funny)

    by Brad1138 ( 590148 ) <brad1138@yahoo.com> on Thursday October 27, 2005 @07:08PM (#13893219)
    Goooooooggggggggglllllleee!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Time to start this kind of thread, too :-)
  • I'm just curious: does anybody know how many chairs Mr. Ballmer has in his office?

  • Modded funny or insightful? (Score:5, Funny)

    by HerculesMO ( 693085 ) on Thursday October 27, 2005 @07:21PM (#13893302)
    I'm taking bets that most will be modded funny instead of insightful.

    Granted though... I could be moderated insightful for THIS post... so I'm betting against myself :)

  • In other news.... (Score:3, Funny)

    by rm69990 ( 885744 ) on Thursday October 27, 2005 @07:24PM (#13893323)
    Google hires two new key executives.

  • I'm reminded of This is Spinal Tap (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anita Coney ( 648748 ) on Thursday October 27, 2005 @07:25PM (#13893330) Homepage
    When I read this quote, "When you have a company of 60,000 employees, people are coming and going all the time." I couldn't help but be reminded of the comment made by Spinal Tap's manager about the band's declining audience.

    Marty: The last time Tap toured America, they where, uh, booked
                      into 10,000 seat arenas, and 15,000 seat venues, and it
                      seems that now, on the current tour they're being
                      booked into 1,200 seat arenas, 1,500 seat arenas, and uh
                      I was just wondering, does this mean uh...the popularity
                      of the group is waning?
    Ian: Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no...no, no, not at all.
                      I, I, I just think that the.. uh.. their appeal is
                      becoming more selective.

  • Well that's good news! (Score:3, Funny)

    by ZackSchil ( 560462 ) on Thursday October 27, 2005 @07:26PM (#13893336)
    For a moment, I thought that my weather widget was busted. [badcharacter.com]

    I thought it was a virus or something. This story explains everything. What a relief.

  • Executives are overrated (Score:3, Insightful)

    by melted ( 227442 ) on Thursday October 27, 2005 @07:30PM (#13893361) Homepage
    It's the engineers who do the actual work, anyway. A good executive just doesn't get in the way of engineers doing their work. A bad one tells engineers what to do in unnecessarily great detail. Of the two DonGa is a moderate loss. HadiP is not a loss at all. What did MSN achieve under him? Start.com? Puhleeze.
    • However, Gasp, start.com and search.msn.com are standards compliant according to firefox, and, aside from some minor issues, pass W3C validation as well. I hope whoever takes over isn't going to have a lower priority on these standardization efforts...

      At least they appear to render properly with firefox under GNU/Linux.
    • This is a ridiculous statement. Those executives are the ones who decide how to market the products, how to price the products and are the ones who make the decisions that SELL the products that those engineers make. The "actual work" as you say, is irrelevant if no one markets it (and thus no one buys it).

      As far as a good executive not getting in the way; there are many engineers that have to be managed (which should be done properly, I admit) to ensure that projects stay on task and include the specifi

    • I disagree: Both are equally important (Score:5, Insightful)

      by mindaktiviti ( 630001 ) on Thursday October 27, 2005 @09:04PM (#13893880)
      When you're in such a huge organization as Microsoft, or Google, or a Fortune 500, great management of any kind is important. The best managers make the office politics transparent, the resources needed to finish a project always available, and is a communication and trust layer between the engineers who have those great ideas and upper management who are blinded by other factors when it comes to the importance of the engineers' work.

      Also moving up the ladder, those executives have the power to change an organization, and the great ones do it for the better.

      I believe that in both management and in the technical aspect of the corporate world there are bad apples in both areas. Bad managers, bad engineers, and without good managers and engineers alike, all would hate their jobs.

      A quick note: I'm working on a project right now at the city hall of a very large city. There's myself who is the low level information guy (mostly monkey work), my boss who's a professional materials manager, and then there's the project manager who's a great public speaker. He's the one that's been carrying this project because he's able to cut through all the bullshit with all the city divisions, and no doubt he'll be the one carrying us when our project comes to council next month.
      • I have. Over there change comes from the bottom only to be fucked up by those on the top. People five levels up in the management chain have not a slightest clue about customer needs. All they do is throw buzzwords around and sell their stock grants. Microsoft will SERIOUSLY benefit from reduction in managerial headcount. In fact, I'm convinced things would go much better if tomorrow SteveB fired half of mid-to-top level management and threatened to fire the other half if stock doesn't go up.

        One other thing

  • That's what you get (Score:3, Funny)

    by turgid ( 580780 ) on Thursday October 27, 2005 @07:33PM (#13893384) Journal
    ...when you don't validate your pointers.

  • so which is it? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by yagu ( 721525 ) * <yayaguNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Thursday October 27, 2005 @07:35PM (#13893392) Journal

    From the slashdot article "quoting" Microsoft: According to Microsoft, 'when you have a company of 60,000 employees, people are coming and going all the time.

    But in this Slate article [msn.com] is the snippet that we continue to have the lowest turnover in the industry? , (as part of a question Bill Gates raised about continuing to make Microsoft an attractive place to work).

    Seems these two statements conflict, both tailored to serve the spin necessary. So, what is it? Is Microsoft suffering from an exodus or do they truly have one of the lowest turnovers in the industry?

    • > Seems these two statements conflict...

      The do no such thing. Having low turnover is not the same as having none.

    • Re:so which is it? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by TheAwfulTruth ( 325623 ) on Thursday October 27, 2005 @07:51PM (#13893483) Homepage
      How are those statements conflicting?

      If Microsoft has an incredibly low turnover rate of 1% a year for example, that still means that 600 people a year are "coming and going", that's 2 a day! I'd say that that means the statement of people coming and going all the time is pretty straight forward and truthful. That means that both statements could be 100% true and not conflicting in any way.

      But you are right, journalists with adjendas and corporate statements will make use of whichever number looks better for their cause.

      The only tragic thing is when people can't see that and assume that someone is outright lying or wrong which, at least in this example, is not the case. Both statements, sitting side by side, are perfectly truthful and neither one by itself spins anything.
      • Contrary to popular belief, coding is not all free blow-jobs and beer. Those things cost MONEY!

        Yes, and be sure to make that clear to your project managers.
    • They don't conflict at all. Gates was referring to the Apple turnovers that are popular in the lunchrooms on the Microsoft campus. Sparing no expense, they use only quality Macintosh Apples for their turnovers.
    • Could this be the begining of the end? First it was a special dividend, now executives are jumping ship in droves. (so two is not a drove but it is still early, there may be more shortly)

      How much stock are these guys selling off? It may be another indication that there is serious doubt and trouble inside Microsoft. They can ride Windows and Office only so far. The competitors out there are getting better and people are starting to realize there is an option. The next few years will see Microsofts do

  • Significant Loss? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Lead Butthead ( 321013 ) on Thursday October 27, 2005 @07:39PM (#13893419) Journal
    The fact Microsoft compelled to even comment about the departure suggests they're more important than Microsoft is willing to admit?

  • Rearranging (Score:3, Funny)

    by Tordek ( 863609 ) <kedrot@@@gmail...com> on Thursday October 27, 2005 @07:57PM (#13893528) Homepage

    Microsoft lost two key employees amidst major reorganization announced last month

    See, That's what you get when you start rearranging stuff and can't remember where you put it.

    • Oh, wait, I got it, their sort function has limit issues. I bet there are at least two extra employees from another company there... That's what you get for using VB

  • Did they... (Score:4, Funny)

    by plopez ( 54068 ) on Thursday October 27, 2005 @07:58PM (#13893529) Journal
    check underneath the couch? That's where when I lose something, I usually find them.
  • Wow. I knew Microsoft was a big company, but now they're so big that they're misplacing employees! I hope that the employees are alive and well when they find them. Maybe they need to form some sort of internal search and rescue team.

  • Claim your reward (Score:3, Funny)

    by FishandChips ( 695645 ) on Thursday October 27, 2005 @08:07PM (#13893595) Journal
    Dear Colleague

    I am the Fiduciary Collections Officer for the Bank of Mwuangabana e Sanctu Spiritu, Lagos, and am seeking by the same a trustworthy and reliable partner concerning the deposition in cash specie of 7.8 million dollars US by dependable American business the Microsoft Corporation for information leading to the identification of two missing persons. Now I find the money unclaimed and wish to transfer ...
  • If these were 2048-bit or 4096-bit key executives, then I think microsoft really has reason to worry! ...But if they were 512-bit key executives, then this is barely news.
  • What a relief! I misread the /. headline in my RSS aggregator as

    Microsoft Loses Two Executive Keys

    I certainly do not prevent Bill or Steve from taking their daily dump. Bill just turn 50 and it's important for him to say regular.

  • hmmm.... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by aquabat ( 724032 ) on Thursday October 27, 2005 @08:33PM (#13893737) Journal
    Scene: gravel road in some desolate bush in the Washington Mountains. A black Buick approaches, pulls to the side of the road. The engine stops. The driver side door opens, and Bill emerges from the vehicle. He walks to the trunk of the car, and opens it. Two executives in suits, blindfolded, hands tied, fumble and stagger as they emerge from the trunk. Bill unties their hands and removes their blindfolds. The executives look at Bill patiently, expectantly, a little anxiously.

    Bill: You're free now, boys. Run, play, live.

    The executives cock their heads uncertainly, look at each other, and then bound off into the bush together. Bill reaches into the trunk, pulls out a Shop Vac, and proceeds to vacuum the interior of the trunk. Bill then walks calmly back to the driver's side of the vehicle, sits in the driver's seat and pulls the door shut. The engine starts. The car does a two point U turn and proceeds to leave the scene, going the way it came.

  • Microsoft loses two key employees... (Score:3, Funny)

    by bananahead ( 829691 ) * on Thursday October 27, 2005 @08:45PM (#13893791) Journal
    uses Google search to find them..... I simply can't believe I am the first one to use this.
  • What is all this discussion about karma and talking about Microsoft's demise?

    Did anyone read the head lines? "Micorsoft lost two executives"! Where is the amber alert when you need one?

    Let's start a search party and go help find them. They may be lost and hurt somewhere in Redmond. They need to be found quickly before they wander away and are lost forever.

    I mean there is no telling if they might wander into another company and start making trouble all over again. We must collect them and return
  • It has been reported that a number of companies whose main business is making furnitures like chairs had their stock prices going up more than 25% after Microsoft announced they will be buying daily shippings of new chairs.
  • According to Microsoft, 'when you have a company of 60,000 employees, people are coming and going all the time.'

    Sounds like the manager of the Taco Bell down the street, except replace "60,000" with "sixteen".
  • ...people are coming and going all the time...

    In other news, Harriet Meiers has opted for an early retirement package from the Supreme Court... to spend more time with her family...

  • But it's a shame that something like this has happened. That's why I always label my boxes, to prevent just this sort of thing. Hopefully they have enough food and water to survive until they're located.
  • It seemed like a sour note in the middle of a riff. 60,000 employees? Seems kind of low, when you're bent on world domination. So, I went over to www.hoovers.com and dug up their fact sheets:(2004 numbers,unless noted)

    Walt Disney Company: 129,000
    International Business Machines(IBM): 369,277
    Samsung Group(2003): 195,000
    Citigroup, Inc: 294,000
    Sun Microsystems: 35,000
    Apple Computer, Inc: 13,426
    Google, inc: 3,021
    Electronic Arts: 6,100
    Novell: 6,186
    Dell Computers: 55,200
    Hewlett-Packard Company: 151,000

  • You go to war with the Clones you have, not with the Clones you wish you had.

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