Microsoft Corp. CEO Satya Nadella announced that two of his top executives-Tony Bates, EVP for business development and evangelism, and Tami Reller, EVP for marketing--are leaving the company for undisclosed reasons.
Furthermore, several sources familiar with the issue told re/code that Bates will temporarily be replaced by Eric Rudder, EVP for advanced strategy, while Reller will be replaced by Chris Capossela, a longtime marketing executive at the company. Capossela will also get all of advertising leaving EVP Mark Penn to handle strategy alone.
Bates' resignation did not come as a big surprise as he once informed Nadella that he cannot commit to the company for a long time.
Bates, who is set to leave the company immediately, doesn't seem to have plans yet, though he has received many CEO offers in recent months, including one from IPO-bound GoPro among them.
He has contributed a lot in different companies, like Cisco and Internet MCI, and an active presence in Silicon Valley social and charitable circles, and had served as a member of the board of YouTube and LoveFilm.
Ballmer's long-time friend Reller, on the other hand, is one of the top female leaders at the software giant, who directly reports to Nadella. She started working with the Redmond, Wash.-based company as a strategist in 2001. She had worked in a number of jobs, such as chief marketing officer and chief financial officer for the company's Windows unit.
Like Bates, her resignation didn't come as a big surprise, given the fact that she had been matched by Ballmer in an awkward face-off with Penn.
According to sources, she will stay for a while to help the company with the transition.
When asked about the issue, a spokesperson for Microsoft declined to comment about the changes.
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