Xbox COO Helen Chiang Leaves Microsoft a Few Months Into the Role
Chiang, the former head of Minecraft, was promoted to Xbox's first COO in July. Microsoft says it doesn't discuss individual personnel matters.
Helen Chiang, Xbox’s first chief operating officer, left Microsoft on October 23, according to an internal memo seen by The Verge. She had been at Microsoft for 21 years, led Minecraft, and was promoted to the new COO role in July, about three months earlier.
The memo
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma’s memo, as reported by The Verge, read: “Helen Chiang is leaving Microsoft today. I’m grateful for her years of service and wish her well.” Her responsibilities are being split among other Xbox leaders for now, and Sharma said “we’ll share more on COO leadership as plans are finalized.”
When she was promoted, Sharma described the role as having “end-to-end P&L responsibility across content, hardware, platform, and services.”
No reason given
Microsoft hasn’t said why Chiang left. “We don’t discuss individual personnel matters,” Xbox VP of communications Kari Perez told The Verge. “We’re grateful for Helen’s years of service and wish her well.”
The Verge wrote that the short memo and the reassignment of her duties “makes it seem like this wasn’t a resignation.” That’s The Verge’s reading, not something Microsoft or Chiang has confirmed, and any claim that she was fired remains unconfirmed. The Verge also notes the exit comes amid rumors of more Xbox layoffs, which Microsoft hasn’t confirmed either.
Source: The Verge.
Sources
- The Verge theverge.com
