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Microsoft's Head of M&A Leaving
Earlier this week Microsoft quietly announced that the head of its merger and acquisitions strategy, Vice President of Corporate Development Bruce Jaffe, is leaving the company.
Earlier this week Microsoft quietly announced that the head of its merger and acquisitions strategy, Vice President of Corporate Development Bruce Jaffe, is leaving the company.
Jaffe will retire on Feb. 29, according to a company spokesperson. "During Bruce's two-year tenure in this particular role, we did nearly 50 deals including aQuantive, Tellme and the Facebook investment," the spokesperson said in a comment e-mailed to this site. "Bruce's contribution to Microsoft's growth is much appreciated and we wish him well in his next endeavor."
Microsoft did not comment on the reasons behind his retirement, and Jaffe did not respond to an e-mail requesting comment on his departure and his future plans by press time.
According to Jaffe's bio on the Microsoft site, he joined the company in 1995 in the corporate strategy group, where he helped provide strategic and economic analysis for different business units. He was promoted to Microsoft Corporate Development general manager in 2000.
The company did not say what role, if any, Jaffe played in its first big acquisition of 2008: the $1.2 billion deal for Oslo-based Fast Search & Transfer, announced Tuesday.
This is the second high-profile departure for Microsoft this week; today Jeff Raikes, president of Microsoft Business Division, announced his retirement.
About the Author
Becky Nagel is vice president of AI for 1105 Media, where she specializes in training internal and external customers on maximizing their business potential via a wide variety of generative AI technologies as well as developing cutting-edge AI content and events. She's the author of "ChatGPT Prompt 101 Guide for Business Uses," regularly leads research studies on generative AI business usage, and serves as the director of AI Boardroom, a new resource for C-level executives looking to excel in the AI era. Prior to her current position she was a technical leader for 1105 Media's Web, advertising and production teams as well as editorial director for a suite of enterprise technology publications, including serving as founding editor of PureAI.com. She has 20 years of enterprise technology journalism experience, and regularly speaks and writes about generative AI, AI, edge computing and other cutting-edge technologies. She can be reached at [email protected].