InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[magillagorilla]

Older news that may or may not, be relevant

Microsoft Brings Back Kurt DelBene for New Senior Strategy Post -- Update
Date : 04/13/2015 @ 1:29PM

By Shira Ovide

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Satya Nadella is bringing back a former company executive to advise him on business and technology strategy, in a sign Mr. Nadella wants to ensure his company doesn't miss coming technology waves.

Kurt DelBene, who retired from Microsoft in 2013 and then oversaw efforts to fix the U.S. Healthcare.gov website, is returning to the company in the newly created role of executive vice president of corporate strategy and planning. Mr. DelBene will report to Mr. Nadella, and his responsibilities include "identifying future investments and opportunities," and helping Mr. Nadella execute strategic initiatives, Microsoft said in a statement Monday.

Reached on Monday, Mr. DelBene said he was "very excited to be going back" to Microsoft.

Mr. Nadella hasn't changed his executive suite much in the 14 months since he has been CEO. Mr. DelBene's appointment is a sign Mr. Nadella is filling out his trusted circle, and that the CEO wants more eyes on critical questions like how Microsoft should invest in emerging technologies.

Microsoft also adjusted the job titles of two senior executives whose responsibilities apparently overlapped with Mr. DelBene's, at least on paper. Mark Penn, who held the title chief strategy officer, as of Monday was called chief insight officer on a Microsoft website. Eric Rudder, previously executive vice president of advanced strategy, was referred to as executive vice president of advanced technology and education.

A spokesman for Microsoft said the title changes reflected the roles those executives have been playing at the company. For example, Mr. Penn has managed marketing strategy efforts and led data-analysis projects.

Keeping ahead of technological changes is crucial to Microsoft, which was caught flat-footed on several shifts of prior decades, including Web search and mobile computing.

Mr. DelBene is a familiar figure at Microsoft. An engineer by training, he worked at the company for more than 20 years, the final three as president of the division anchored by Microsoft Office. Then-CEO Steve Ballmer announced Mr. DelBene's retirement from Microsoft in 2013, as the company rolled out a sweeping corporate restructuring that left a different executive in charge of Office. Weeks after the restructuring, Mr. Ballmer also announced he would retire when a successor was found.

Mr. DelBene signed up at the end of 2013 for what was billed as a temporary stint advising the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary. He was credited with helping to stabilize the glitch-prone Healthcare.gov website. He stopped doing day-to-day work for the government last summer.

In September, he took a position with Madrona Venture Group, a Seattle firm that invests in technology startups. There, Mr. DelBene was instrumental in Madrona's investment in Icebrg, a computer-security startup founded by two former Microsoft security executives. He also advised young companies such as Smartsheet.com Inc. and ExtraHop Networks Inc. that sell tech services to businesses.

Mr. Nadella and Mr. DelBene know each other well. They were colleagues on equal footing when Mr. DelBene last worked at Microsoft. The two have kept in regular touch to discuss tech trends since Mr. DelBene left the federal government, according to a person familiar with the conversations.

Write to Shira Ovide at [e-mail]

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

http://ih.advfn.com/p.php?pid=nmona&article=66395913