Jeff Raikes, the president of Microsoft's Business Division, plans to retire in September, the company said on Thursday.
A Microsoft employee since 1981, Raikes oversees a broad stretch of the company's product line, including its Office, Dynamics and Exchange software. Microsoft's Business Division generated about US$16 billion in annual revenue last year, or slightly less than a third of the total.
"There is no overstating the incredible impact Jeff has had during his amazing career at Microsoft," CEO Steve Ballmer said in a statement.
Raikes will be replaced by Stephen Elop, formerly the chief operating officer at Juniper Networks. Elop also did a stint as president of worldwide field operations at Adobe Systems following its acquisition of Macromedia, where he served as president and CEO.
Elop will start at Microsoft at the end of this month and take over Raikes' portfolio gradually, starting with the company's Information Worker, Business Solutions, and Unified Communications businesses.
With Raikes set to retire, Bob Muglia, senior vice president of Microsoft's Server and Tools business, will now report directly to Ballmer, the company said.
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