While Stephen Elop did not become the Satya Nadella of Microsoft, the former Nokia topman is making his return to the company as head of the Devices and Studios division.
Elop stepped down from his position as Nokia CEO, a position he held since 2010, upon the announcement that Microsoft will buy the company for $7.2 billion. He said back then that he will eventually assume a post that will handle different hardware products such as the Xbox and the Surface Tablet.
The latest appointment is not a surprise but rather ironic given that reports had surfaced in November that Elop, if given the top job, might sell the company's game console division.
"Besides emphasizing Office, Elop would be prepared to sell or shut down major businesses to sharpen the company's focus, the people said. He would consider ending Microsoft's costly effort to take on Google with its Bing search engine, and would also consider selling healthy businesses such as the Xbox game console if he determined they weren't critical to the company's strategy, the people said," the Bloomberg report read.
Upon Elop's return, executive vice president Julie Larson-Green will be stepping aside and move to head the My Life and Work team under the umbrella of Applications Services Group. She will be reporting to Qi Lu who leads the latter.
From being the champion of hardware development, Larson-Green will become chief experience officer for her new team and this means she will be overseeing online services such as OneDrive, MSN, Outlook.com, and Bing.
Larson-Green announced her transfer Monday through an internal memo.
"As hard as it is for me to leave Devices & Studios, I'm thrilled about this opportunity. In working with company leaders this year to establish our One Microsoft vision and plan, I thought about ways I could have impact on helping Microsoft prepare for the future and innovate. My discussions with Satya and Qi made clear this is a critical space to drive new thinking and an essential way to help the shape the company's direction," Larson-Green said in the memo scooped by Geekwire.
"I want to thank each and every one of you for welcoming me and supporting me as the leader of Devices & Studios over the past 7 months. I'm very proud of what we have accomplished during such a short timeframe. We launched Xbox One, Surface 2 & Pro 2, blockbuster games like Forza and Ryse, a brand new Xbox Music and Video service, PPI, and some amazing unannounced innovations just to name a few - incredibly impressive!" she added.
Prior to her role as the head of hardware development, Larson-Green was working in tandem with Tami Reller overseeing Windows. For the meantime, she will still serve as interim head of Devices and Studios until Elop takes charge.
When Elop takes the control of D&S, he will most likely show some love for the Xbox, contrary to the rumors before.
