Microsoft announced on Thursday their newest hire, Kevin Turner as the new chief operating officer. Turner will be in charge of strategic and operational leadership of sales, marketing and service professionals as well as the company’s fulfillment and IT operations.
Turner comes from Wal-Mart, where he served as president and CEO of Sam’s Club, the warehouse club with over $37 billion in annual sales and executive vice president of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. He was responsible for all Sam’s Club operations in the U.S. Before that he was executive vice president and chief information officer for Wal-Mart.
“I appreciate all of the opportunities that Wal-Mart has provided to me during my 19-year career there and I’m thrilled to bring that experience to Microsoft. As the global software leader, Microsoft offers limitless opportunities,” said Turner. “I’ve worked with Microsoft for years as a customer and when you look at the incredible lineup of innovative products and technologies Microsoft is poised to deliver over the next couple of years, it is a very exciting place in which to contribute and work to change the world.”
He starts the job on Sept 8th and will work with Kevin Johnson, who currently does the job to slide into the job smoothly. Then, on Sept. 30th, Turner takes over the slot and Johnson will pick up another slot at Microsoft.
“I welcome Kevin Turner to Microsoft and look forward to ensuring a smooth transition as he takes on what is one of the best jobs at Microsoft – leading the finest group of sales, marketing and service professionals in the information technology industry,” Johnson said. “At the same time, I’m looking forward with great excitement to my next opportunity at Microsoft.”
This is just the latest in the executive shifting at Microsoft, who’s currently embroiled in a battle with Google of Kai-Fu Lee, former VP at Microsoft and now president in charge of China at Google. The outcome of that fight remains to be seen.
John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
