Microsoft appoints new CFO

Robert Clark | November 25, 2009

telecomseurope.net

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Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell will leave the company at the end of 2009, the software firm announced Tuesday.

He will be replaced by Peter Klein, CFO of the company’s business division, Microsoft said.

Microsoft did not give a reason for Liddell’s departure but said the 51-year-old was “looking at a number of opportunities that will expand his career beyond being a CFO.”

New Zealand-born Liddell has been CFO since May 2005. He was previously CEO of Carter Holt Harvey, New Zealand’s second-largest listed company.

He leaves the company in apparent good financial health. Microsoft has reduced costs this year by US$3 billion (€2 b)beyond its original plan, and returned $14 billion to shareholders through dividends and buy-back. Liddell successfully led the software firm’s first foray to the debt markets.

Klein, 47, has been with Microsoft since February 2002. As CFO of the business division he has been responsible for $18.9 billion in sales and 7,800 staff. Previously, he was CFO of the server and tools division.

Microsoft’s stock price fell 23 cents in after-hours trading to 29.68.

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Robert Clark