Shirley Announces Resignation as Microsoft President
 
Microbytes Daily News Service
Copyright (c) 1989, McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Jon Shirley, the president of Microsoft Corporation, has
announced he will be leaving the company in mid-1990. Shirley
said he was leaving amicably, and that Microsoft chairman William
Gates had known about the decision well in advance. However,
Microsoft has not named a successor.
 
Although Shirley cited no specific reasons for leaving Microsoft,
he did say it was not because of disagreements with Gates, with
whom he has worked closely since he joined Microsoft in 1983.
Shirley said he would remain as Microsoft president and chief
operating officer until June 1990, the end of Microsoft's fiscal
year; even after resigning as president, he said, he would remain
on the board of directors. Speculation is that Shirley, who is
52 years old and owns about $40 million worth of Microsoft stock,
is financially independent and simply wishes to enjoy his
success. He was in charge of Radio Shack's TRS-80 computer
line almost from the beginning and was hired as Microsoft
president as the company made its first big push into
applications.
 
In a statement, Gates said Shirley would help select his
successor; the company is considering replacements for Shirley
from both inside and outside Microsoft. The most likely
candidates inside Microsoft include Steve Ballmer, who has been
with Microsoft since 1980 and currently heads up the company's
systems software division, and Mike Maples, who is in charge of
applications software and was formerly director of software
strategy at IBM.
 
                              --- Frank Hayes
 
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