Amy Hood is Microsoft's First Female CFO
Amy Hood is replacing Peter Klein as chief financial officer.
On Wednesday Microsoft said that 41-year-old Amy Hood has become the company's chief financial officer, succeeding Peter Klein. Her role as CFO is effective immediately, and Klein will remain at Microsoft until June to ensure a smooth transition. This is the first time in Microsoft's history that a female has held this position.
Hood joined Microsoft in December 2002 as a part of the investor relations group. She eventually became chief of staff in the Server and Tools group, then ran the strategy and business development team in the company's $24.1 billion Microsoft Business Division (MBD).
In January 2010 she became CFO of the division, overseeing all financial strategy, management and reporting. Hood was also deeply involved in the strategy development and overall execution of the company’s successful acquisitions of Skype and Yammer.
“I’m excited to step into this role and look forward to working closely again with our investors and shareholders,” Hood said. “Peter has built a world-class finance team, and I am set up well to continue the company’s strong discipline around costs and focus on driving shareholder value.”
Prior to working at Microsoft, Hood worked at Goldman Sachs in various roles including investment banking and capital markets groups. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Duke University, and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University.
"Amy brings the right talents and experiences to the role as we continue to strengthen our focus on devices and services," said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. "She has been an instrumental leader in the Microsoft Business Division, helping lead the transition to services with Office 365 and delivering strong financial and operational management throughout her time on the business."
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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computernerdforlife Very cool because she can be CEO one day of Microsoft. Anything is better than Steve Balder at the helm.Reply
On another note: she looks very hot in the first picture in the story. Then I click the image and then she's appears to be a cougar so nothing to write home. Then Tom's infamous 2 clicks to get to the real image: freckles everywhere on her face. From hot to freckles........ It's not relevant to her position, i'm just saying. -
xero141 i initially read "CEO" and smiled.. "finally balmer's gone" then read correctly.. oh well..Reply -
bit_user I've long been thinking Microsoft needs to replace a certain C-level exec, and I didn't have the CFO in mind...Reply
BTW, I don't claim to know anything about corporate accounting, but 41 strikes me as awfully young, for such a big company.
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lockhrt999 Reply10789837 said:Very cool because she can be CEO one day of Microsoft. Anything is better than Steve Balder at the helm.
On another note: she looks very hot in the first picture in the story. Then I click the image and then she's appears to be a cougar so nothing to write home. Then Tom's infamous 2 clicks to get to the real image: freckles everywhere on her face. From hot to freckles........ It's not relevant to her position, i'm just saying.
But still I'd marry her. -
bunz_of_steel Any change is good change at M$ if u ask me. And yeh maybe freckles but still hot lil cougar thang lol.Reply -
apepi Why should a care? Some woman is now a chief financial officer...so what? I do not care what gender she is, as long as she does it good fine by me. Maybe I have moved passed being sexist but I really do not care.Reply -
bit_user Okay, I see some people disagree with me. Assuming the Balmer fan club consistes of no more than 1 person, it must be the comment about 41 being young.Reply
Alrighty, then. How long do you think it should take for someone to gain all the relevant experience and knowledge competantly perform as the head of accounting in one of the top, publically traded companies in the world? One in a fair bit of stormy waters, no less. And don't forget that qualified applicants will surely need to spend a few extra years in school, to get a MBA.