Microsoft president to leave as other managers assume more power.

Byline: Rob Kaiser

Microsoft Corp. President Rick Belluzzo said Wednesday he will step down from his position in May as the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant flattens its business structure

The 48-year-old Belluzzo, who joined Microsoft in September 1999 and became its president in February 2001, said in a company press release that "it was the right time to pursue my goal of leading my own company."

Microsoft plans to employ a new structure in which the heads of the company's seven business units will assume greater responsibility and accountability, the release said.

Rob Enderle, an analyst with Giga Information Group, told the Associated Press the resignation was wholly unexpected _ many assumed Belluzzo was being groomed to replace chief executive Steve Ballmer at some point.

"You don't normally put someone in that role in order to take him out of there a few days later or a few months later," Enderle said.

But Christopher J. Galvin, an analyst at J.P. Morgan, downplayed both Belluzzo's departure and the structural changes to Microsoft.

"The world of Microsoft revolves around Bill and Steve," Galvin said, referring to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer. "Belluzzo was in a very senior position, but there's an amazing number of lieutenants" at the company.

Galvin also said Microsoft is a dynamic company that often shifts its organizational structure. "Microsoft is always kind of changing the players and moving the chairs around to keep everyone fresh," he said.

The company does not plan to replace Belluzzo, who will remain at Microsoft until September to assist with the transition.

Microsoft gave little detail about what it called a realignment of its business structure. "We realized we needed to give our core leaders deeper control and accountability in the way they run their business, while at the same time ensuring strong communication and collaboration across the business units," Ballmer said in the release.

Belluzzo was a rarity at Microsoft, a senior executive who had spent the majority of his career outside the company.

"I am more of an execution specialist than an idea generator," he said in an interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer soon after being named to the company's No. 3 position. "I spend most of my time looking for the best ideas, adding my own, and getting teams focused on key priorities."

Before being appointed president, Belluzzo focused much of his attention on the company's consumer operations, including its Xbox gaming system, its MSN Messenger instant messaging system and its Ultimate TV service. Belluzzo also was instrumental early on in the company's .NET initiative for delivering a variety of services over the Internet.

Before joining Microsoft, Belluzzo was briefly chief executive of Silicon Graphics Inc., and previously spent 23 years at Hewlett-Packard Co.

Belluzzo replaced Bob Herbold, a longtime Microsoft executive who continues to work part time for Microsoft in its dealings with industry and political leaders.

___

(c) 2002, Chicago Tribune.

Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicago.tribune.com/

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.