Ballmer Keeps Hold on Organization

Microsoft’s organization still shows gaps left by the Apr. 2002 departure of President and Chief Operating Officer Rick Belluzzo. While senior executives such as Jeff Raikes have taken over some of Belluzzo’s responsibilities, the company’s hands-on CEO, Steve Ballmer, still has a direct line to many product groups and directly supervises operations groups (such as human resources and finance). This article outlines the changes the company has made—and has not made—at the vice-presidential level and above since the publication of the Feb. 2002 Directions on Microsoft OrgChart. (All of the changes mentioned in this article are included in the latest Orgchart, which contains the name, title, reporting relationship, and job description for the top 900 executives.)

(For further information on Belluzzo’s departure, see “President, COO Belluzzo to Resign” on page 23 of the May 2002 Update.)

The company has not made any sweeping organizational changes since Feb. 2002, and headcount in the upper reaches of the organization has declined slightly while the company as a whole has grown: there are now 121 executives ranking vice president or above, compared with 125 in Feb. 2002. Fourteen women hold the rank of vice president or above, compared with 11 in Feb. 2002.