Former XBOX COO Clarifies Her Departure

Last week, XBOX CEO Asha Sharma informed employees that chief operating officer (COO) Helen Chiang, a 21-year Microsoft veteran, was leaving the company after just three months in the role. At the time, Eurogamer claimed that she was terminated for “policy violations,” citing a single source. But today, Chiang denied that account.

“There has been some speculation about my abrupt departure from Microsoft, including claims that I was ‘fired for a policy violation’,” Ms. Chiang writes on LinkedIn. “That’s not accurate and while I won’t turn this into a play-by-play, silence should not be mistaken for agreement. What has been said about my departure, and what has been left unsaid, has created a picture of me that I hardly recognize. It’s important to me to set the record straight.”

Chiang doesn’t address whether she left voluntarily or was terminated. But she denies leaking confidential company information to the press or engaging in discrimination, bullying, harassment, insider trading, embezzlement, or other fraudulent activities. Likewise, she didn’t leave XBOX to join a competitor or because she was passed over for a bigger role. So those cover the most obvious reasons why she may have been terminated or left of her own accord.

“I share this because I don’t want my departure reduced to an inaccurate story about incompetence, ambition for the next big job, or a Nelson-level scandal,” she adds. “My story is about staying true to your core values, especially when it is hard. That’s the legacy I hope to leave behind … This is not how I ever imagined my story here would end. And it is not the whole story.”

So the mystery continues, but she wasn’t let go for a policy violation, at least, and didn’t leave to join the competition or because she was passed over for some other role internally. We know that Ms. Chiang is no longer at Microsoft, but it’s still not clear why.