Summary: Bad news for Microsoft, ranging from the departure of Rebecca Norlander to a collapse in value and the reminder of further layoffs/offshoring

THIS news is indirectly related to the death of KIN. It helps show just how vulnerable Microsoft really is.

Now that Allard is out [1, 2, 3] his wife is leaving too. She was the online-ads leader, according to the boosters:

Rebecca Norlander, a partner engineering manager with Microsoft's online advertising business, has left the company along with her husband, former Xbox guru J Allard.

Mary Jo Foley wrote about this too:

When I spoke last month with Rebecca Norlander — a high-profile Microsoft exec who had done stints in a variety of business units — she was evaluating her next move inside the company.

[...]

Just before resigning, Norlander was talking about new job possibilities with the Entertainment and Devices unit, among others divisions at Microsoft, she said. She also was having conversations with the SQL Server and Windows teams about potential opportunities.

Only about 3-5 days ago we have been in E-mail contact with a Microsoft veteran (almost 30 years) who was friends with J Allard and Bill Gates. He struggled to explain to us Allard's departure, which some say was a sacking, not a quitting.

Microsoft has lost many executives recently. The leadership is weak and Microsoft implodes from within. "100 Index Posts Record Losing Streak as Microsoft Slumps," said BusinessWeek some days ago:

The measure, which gets 63 percent of its value from computer-related companies such as Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc., has declined 9.7 percent after slumping 10 consecutive days. Microsoft has tumbled 26 percent since peaking on April 22, while Apple has fallen 9.9 percent in two weeks.

Now is a bad time to be a Microsoft investor, unless one has inside information from Microsoft. Pequot Capital criminally got that privilege [1, 2], which allowed it to fraudulently make money from Microsoft's stock. The SEC's incompetence is now costing people a fortune and one employee gets compensated for an unjust firing. It's a Pequot whistleblower.

• SEC to pay damages to sacked lawyer
• SEC paying $755K to settle with fired lawyer
• Pequot whistleblower lands $750K in 'land war' with SEC

From Murdoch's press:

In May, after new information surfaced in a divorce case, Pequot founder Arthur Samberg agreed, without admitting or denying wrongdoing, to pay $28 million to settle allegations he engaged in insider trading of Microsoft stock.

More here:

Last month Pequot, which abruptly went out of business in 2009, agreed to pay $28 million to settle regulators claims that it illegally used inside information to trade Microsoft Corp shares.

It's a sign of rotten systems. Watch how they penalise those who seek justice:

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will pay $755,000 to a former enforcement attorney who said the agency unjustly fired him after he tried to investigate insider-trading allegations involving former Morgan Stanley Chief Executive Officer John Mack.

Speaking of whistleblowers, Microsoft fired a whistleblower for saying the truth and bribed another fired whistleblower to drop allegations of Microsoft fraud. Microsoft is a corrupt company, so it's only its nature to operate in this way. Eric Savitz, one of the key boosters of Microsoft's stock, is still sticking with the same agenda. It would be interesting to know if he has had shares in Microsoft (MSFT).

For those who do not know, Microsoft's divisions are suffering at many levels; allegedly, they still quietly lay employees off (without disclosure). The "KIN" team would be one obvious area.

"Microsoft and Honda executives dole out advice on cutting jobs," says this news headline from the Telegraph. Microsoft must be the expert, having dealt with many larger-scale layoffs recently.

Gordon Frazer, managing director of Microsoft, said: "With hindsight, people understood what was going on long before we made any announcement. The sooner you can tell them 'this is how it is going to affect you and your job', the better."

Microsoft does not have to publicly announce layoffs (not even to shareholders) if the process is slow and gradual and if the jobs are moved to cheaper places, as we shall show later. ⬆