TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Microsoft Hires New COO From Walmart

Microsoft Hires New COO From Walmart

Reed Stevenson (reuters@telecom-digest.org)
Thu, 4 Aug 2005 23:05:21 -0500

By Reed Stevenson

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. appointed Kevin Turner, a top
executive at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. as its new Chief Operating Officer,
the world's largest software maker said on Thursday.

The appointment of Turner, 40, who will be in charge of Microsoft's
global sales, marketing and service operations, is part of a wider
reorganization of executive positions, the Redmond, Washington-based
company said in a statement.

Wal-Mart, in a separate announcement, said that Doug McMillon would
replace Turner as head of its Sam's Club warehouse stores.

Microsoft's COO job, considered the No. 3 position after Chairman Bill
Gates and Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, has been vacant since 2002,
when Rick Belluzzo left the position.

"That number three job at Microsoft is a tough position to be in,"
said Matt Rosoff, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft, an
independent research firm in Kirkland, Washington.

Belluzzo, a former Hewlett-Packard Co. executive, left Microsoft three
years ago after being pushed out as part of a wider reorganization
that made the company's major product groups more autonomous.

Belluzzo also held the title of president, but Turner was not named
president in Thursday's announcement.

"Turner's experience as a proven leader of people in Wal-Mart's
incredibly dynamic sales environment; his IT background as CIO of a
world-class company and his familiarity with our products and
technologies as a Microsoft customer for more than a decade uniquely
qualify him to serve as our COO," Ballmer, according to companywide
e-mail obtained by Reuters.

Turner will effectively replace Kevin Johnson, Microsoft's group vice
president in charge of sales and marketing, who will be moving into a
new executive role at Microsoft.

Ballmer said in his e-mail that Johnson's new role would be announced
with a month.

Rosoff, who has been tracking Microsoft's human resources for year,
said that these changes could be part of a wider reorganization at the
top.

"There might be an executive departure that we haven't heard of yet,"
Rosoff said.

At Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart, Turner was considered a
rising star and even a possible successor to Wal-Mart CEO Lee
Scott. He oversaw a turnaround at Sam's Club, which had been losing
ground to larger rival Costco Wholesale Corp.

Under his tenure, Sam's Club aggressively cut prices to win over
coveted small-business customers, heaping pressure on Costco's
profits.

Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.

Post Followup Article Use your browser's quoting feature to quote article into reply
Go to Next message: J.P.: "Re: Typical Business Telephone Sets Today?"
Go to Previous message: Michael Kunzelman: "Logan, Continental in Free Wireless Spat"
TELECOM Digest: Home Page