Chris Capossela is Leaving Microsoft

Microsoft chief marketing officer Chris Capossela announced today that he is leaving the software giant. He will be replaced by Takeshi Numoto and will assist with the transition.

“Today, Microsoft announced that we’re promoting Takeshi Numoto to Chief Marketing Officer,” Capossela tweeted this morning, “we’re promoting Yusuf Mehdi to Consumer Chief Marketing Officer, and adding Yusuf [Mehdi, who leads marketing for Windows and Surface] to the Senior Leadership Team, and that I’ll be leaving Microsoft.”

“I couldn’t be happier for Takeshi and Yusuf, and I’m so grateful for my own 32 years of working at this wonderful company,” he continued. “I’ve been shaped by the amazing Microsoft employees, customers, and partners with whom I’ve had the privilege to work with and learn from. The opportunity to spend so many years at Microsoft, work with Satya as CEO, and turn the company into a Cloud and AI powerhouse is an amazing gift that I don’t take for granted.”

Reading this, it’s hard not to wonder whether Capossela was either asked to leave or was offered a new role that he was not interested in: Microsoft’s new emphasis on AI is sure to rock more boats in the future as teams all around the company reprioritize. I suspect a massive reorganization is on the way as well.

As for Capossela, and I can’t stress this enough, he is one of the good guys, the rare example of someone leading a marketing organization—Microsoft or otherwise—who is honest and transparent, and clearly felt that Microsoft, in this case, was at its best working for customers, not against them as is so often the case in this age of enshittification. Perhaps that is what left him as an odd man out during this shift.

I’ve known Chris for over 15 years and will miss him personally and professionally. Many will point to his first major public appearance at CES1998 when he was demonstrating Windows 98’s support for USB and the PC he was using blue-screened. (A year later, Gates joked that Capossela still worked at Microsoft, as if he was somehow responsible. I yelled out from the audience, “Yeah, but he’s parking cars!”) But I remember him better for his deft demos of Windows Vista and Office 12 at PDC 2005: He delivered a flawless run-through at a time when Vista, especially, really needed it.

But the best examples of this man’s excellence came during his year-end appearances on Windows Weekly over several years, the last coming in 2021. (I was able to find appearances from 2020, 2019, 2017, 2016, and 2015 as well.)

What a guy. He will be missed.