Jeff Raikes retiring from Microsoft

Jeff Raikes, one of three Microsoft corporate presidents, has announced that he'll be retiring in September of this year. Head of Microsoft's Business Division (Office, Exchange and Dynamics), Raikes left Apple in 1981 to join the then 100 person Microsoft team. He will be replaced with Stephen Elop, former COO at Juniper Networks. "It's been an incredible 26 years," Raikes told CNET. "I couldn't be more proud of my team and where we've been able to take the business...I've truly lucked out." The loss of Raikes will be significant for Microsoft, as the corporate president is seen as having been instrumental in the design of Microsoft Office, one of the company's best-selling products. His departure also comes at an odd time, with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates also set to step down later this year.

For more on the announcement:
- see this CNET article
- and this ZDnet blog post on other recent departures in Redmond