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But how it must smart even more seeing Qi resurface as the new president of Microsoft's [MSFT
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] sputtering online services business. This has been long rumored, and might be the tech industry's worst-kept secret.
Still, it's a plum, high profile hire for Microsoft and sends a powerful message that if Microsoft couldn't buy Yahoo [YHOO
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], or strike a deal for its search business, it might be perfectly content cherry-picking Yahoo talent to get the job done. After all, it's highly unlikely that Microsoft had to pay Qi anywhere near the $47 billion it was willing to pony up for all of Yahoo.
At the same time, Microsoft also announced the departure of former aQuantive CEO Brian McAndrews who stayed on at Microsoft as senior vice president of its Advertiser & Publisher Solutions Group.
Some viewed McAndrews as a strong candidate to run the Online Services Group, but the longer he stayed without ascending to that position — and once Qi Lu became available, it became increasingly clear he wouldn't get the nod.
I'm not suggesting that Qi (pronounced "Chee") is all of Yahoo by any stretch. But if Microsoft can buy the bits and pieces that matter from Yahoo, including its top talent, this might be a far most cost effective strategy to employ.
Qi is something of a legend in the industry and taking the job with Microsoft is a big win for the company. The guy he succeeds, Kevin Johnson, has widely been talked about as a possible successor to Jerry Yang as Yahoo's CEO. How ironic would that be?
Meantime, expect the non-compete caterwalling from Yahoo execs now that Qi's hire is official. A source at Microsoft tells me the company is not worried at all.
Questions? Comments?
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