Microsoft’s Nadella appoints Mark Penn as Chief Strategy Officer

According to people familiar with the matter, Satya Nadella, who is newly appointed to the position of Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corp., is putting his efforts into shaping the companys team to his liking. Mr. Mark Penn is said to be appointed as Microsofts new Chief Strategy Officer.

On Monday, Chief Executive Officer Nadella made an e-mailed announcement to employees, saying that the companys executives Tony Bates and Tami Reller are going to leave Microsoft Corp. The e-mail was published on the companys website. Mr. Nadella was appointed for Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Co. in February this year. He is said to be depending on the former adviser to Bill Clinton – Mr. Mark Penn, who is also known for occupying the position of Chief Executive Officer at Burson-Marsteller for six years.

Mr. Bates, who was the executive vice president of business development at Microsoft, was the Chief Executive Officer of Skype Technologies SA before the online communications provider was acquired by Microsoft in 2011. A person familiar with the matter said: “His goal was always to be the CEO of a tech company. Thats why he left to join Skype. He wants to go and run his own thing.”

Tami Reller, who was the Executive Vice President in charge of marketing, is to be replaced by Chris Capossela, who is currently the Chief Marketing Officer. The people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified also reported that the head of advanced strategy division – Eric Rudder, is leaving the company too.

As reported by Bloomberg, Mark Moerdler, who is one of the analysts working for Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. said for Mark Penn: “Hes aggressive. Maybe this will add a little testosterone to the organization to counter the fact that Satya is more of a deep thinker.” Mr. Moerdler also said for Bloomberg: “Nadella is trying things out.”

Microsoft Corp.S shares fell by 1.38% on Monday to settle the session at $37.78, marking a one-year change of +35.17% and a market capitalization of $317.97 billion. According to CNN Money, the 28 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for Microsoft Corp. have a median target of $39.00, with a high estimate of $47.00 and a low estimate of $29.00. The median estimate represents a +3.23% increase from the previous close.