As former Xbox president Sarah Bond announced her departure after eight years in the job, she sent an internal letter to all employees in which she expressed her gratitude to former Xbox CEO Phil Spencer and congratulated his successor Asha Sharma.
On February 21, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer announced that he would officially retire after nearly 40 years at Microsoft. At the same time, the gaming brand has undergone a major leadership change: Asha Sharma, current president of Microsoft's core artificial intelligence division, will take over as Xbox CEO, and Xbox president Bond will leave the company.
In an open letter posted on LinkedIn, Bond stated that he would "continue to serve as Asha's special advisor to help achieve a smooth work transition", but also emphasized that "both in terms of personal development and career planning, now is the best time for me to take the next step." She did not reveal her specific subsequent career plans.
"I've had the pleasure of working with new CEO Asha over the past few weeks as we planned this transition, and have witnessed firsthand her deep commitment to our players, developers, and brand," Bond said.
"She has profound technical and business operations experience, and has a very impressive resume in building and scaling up a global user platform. Xbox deserves such a leader. I am very much looking forward to seeing her lead the team to start a new chapter."
Bond added: "I am extremely proud of everything we have built together over the past eight-plus years. PC gaming and cloud gaming are experiencing unprecedented growth, our next-generation console development is progressing smoothly, and together we have laid a solid foundation for a more open, cross-device gaming platform that reaches players around the world."
She ended the letter by thanking Spencer for his "careful guidance and friendship over the years" and also thanking Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella for "his appreciation and full support during my tenure at Microsoft."
In his first email to employees as CEO of Microsoft Games, Sharma wrote: "At this moment, two emotions are intertwined in my heart: awe and a sense of urgency. Awe because this team has created extraordinary achievements over decades; and urgency because the game industry is in a period of rapid change, and we must move forward at full speed with clear goals and firm belief."
"Today marks an exciting new chapter for Microsoft Gaming as Asha Sharma takes over as CEO," Spencer said. "I'd like to be the first to welcome her to this great team."