Man Overboard! Martin Taylor Latest Departure from Microsoft
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Written By Reprise Media | June 21, 2006 | Share This
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Something must have gotten into the water up there in Washington State. How else to explain all these Microsoft folks jumping ship in the last two weeks? First, resident blogger Robert Scoble took off for podcast start-up PodTech.net, a story that generated a teeny-tiny bit of interest online. Then (oh yeah), Bill Gates announced he would diminish his Microsoft duties over the next two years and depart in 2008 in order to spend more time on his philanthropy. Now, executive Martin Taylor has “abruptly” left the company, says the AP.
He may not have the star power of the former two personalities, but Taylor was a key figure in Microsoft’s counter-attack against Google, a 13-year employee who was close to Chief Executive Steve Ballmer. He’d been appointed to market MSN and Windows Live scant months ago.
Microsoft reps and Taylor both are pretty mum on the sudden embarkation; all we have to go on is this brief statement from the company that implies that Taylor didn’t leave under his own power:
“We’ve made the difficult decision to part ways with Martin, but we don’t comment on personnel matters.”
Ok, then.
If it was mainly a company decision, it seems a very strange time to make moves at that particular position. Microsoft has just started a big press push for its Windows Live platform, with Windows Live Messenger (newly unleashed from beta testing) as the centerpiece. We haven’t seen any news yet about a replacement, but we’ll keep you informed as we learn more.
Topics: People on the Move |
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