Microsoft Says Long-Time Deals Executive Brown Leaving Company

(Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. said mergers and acquisitions chief Marc Brown is leaving the company after a more than two-decade stint working on deals ranging from LinkedIn to Nokia Oyj’s handset unit.

Brown, vice president of corporate development, reported to Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood. Microsoft spokesman Frank Shaw on Friday confirmed Brown’s departure and declined to comment on a replacement. The company is still conducting a search for a senior business development executive to replace Peggy Johnson, who left in July to become chief executive officer at Magic Leap Inc.

Brown most recently worked on Microsoft’s acquisition of video-game company ZeniMax Media Inc., owner of the storied video-game publisher Bethesda Softworks, for $7.5 billion in cash. He was also involved in the software maker’s attempt to buy the U.S. assets of video-sharing app TikTok, which fell short as parent company ByteDance Ltd. selected a different type of deal with Oracle Corp. Brown, who couldn’t be reached for comment, worked under several CFOs, as well as two CEOs with very different deal-making styles -- Steve Ballmer and current CEO Satya Nadella.

Brown’s future plans couldn’t immediately be determined.

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