REDMOND, UNITED STATES – 01/25/2021: Microsoft logo seen on its Redmond building. Microsoft will release the financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2021 on January 26th.
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Microsoft has hired Amazon executive Charlie Bell as corporate vice president, CNBC has confirmed.
The move represents a victory for Microsoft, Azure’s cloud business that is trying to gain share of Amazon’s market-leading web services.
Bell was considered a candidate to become head of AWS once Amazon chose Andy Jassy, the CEO of AWS, to lead the entire Amazon. Bell belonged to Amazon’s team of leading Amazon leaders, and his responsibilities as senior vice president included pricing, software development services operations, and financial results, CNBC reported earlier this month when Bell left Amazon.
It is unclear what Bell will do to Microsoft initially. According to a copy that CNBC saw, it featured the organization of Kathleen Hogan, executive vice president and director of human resources at Microsoft, on a Microsoft corporate directory.
This location within Microsoft is unusual given Bell’s 15 years of leadership at AWS, and could be temporary.
Amazon has already filed lawsuits against employees who have gone to competing companies. Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its plans for Bell.
Bell did not respond to any requests for comment. A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment on the move.
Business Insider reported the appointment Wednesday earlier.
SEE: Cramer AWS chief Andy Jassy succeeds Bezos as CEO of Amazon