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- Microsoft for Startups boss Jeffrey Ma is leaving the company, an internal memo states.
- Ma was accused of treating women unfairly at work, as Insider previously reported.
- Ma is the latest executive accused of mistreating employees to leave Microsoft in recent months.
Microsoft for Startups boss Jeff Ma, an MIT-trained blackjack whiz accused of treating women unfairly at work, is leaving the company, according to an internal email viewed by Insider.
Charlotte Yarkoni, Microsoft’s cloud and artificial-intelligence chief operating officer, announced the change internally on Friday, saying Ma is “leaving Microsoft to pursue his next adventure.”
“Jeff’s expertise and impact on Microsoft for Startups has been notable,” Yarkoni wrote in the email. “In addition to redefining our strategy for startups, under Jeff’s leadership both Founder’s Hub and Pegasus, two critical startup investments were launched and are now thriving — increasing our reach and success with startups.”
Yarkoni is searching for a replacement to lead the Microsoft for Startups organization. In the meantime, Hans Yang will lead the startups teams and report to Yarkoni. Jennifer Ritzinger will continue to lead the company’s Students and Regional Director/Most Valuable Professional programs and report to Yarkoni, the email states.
Microsoft for Startups is a program to get more startups to use the company’s products, especially Azure and other cloud services from the software giant. The unit in 2020 hired Ma, a serial tech entrepreneur and, as Microsoft once bragged, he was the inspiration for the main character in the movie “21,” which is about a group of MIT students who learned to count cards and won millions of dollars in Las Vegas casinos.
As Insider reported last year, the company’s bet led to an exodus of senior women leaders from the organization amid allegations that he treated women unfairly at work, demoting employees in front of colleagues without warning, and denying some women the opportunity to apply for leadership roles.
A company spokesperson at the time told Insider that a workplace review of Ma’s organization conducted months ago did not find any discriminatory practices and said turnover in the team was the result of a change in strategy.
While there’s no indication Ma’s departure is related to the allegations, Ma is the latest executive accused of mistreating employees to leave Microsoft in recent months. A Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment on Monday.
Insider reported in May, based on interviews with dozens of current and former employees, about allegations of a widespread pattern of executive misconduct at Microsoft. Both of the executives named in the story, HoloLens co-creator Alex Kipman and cloud executive Tom Keane, have since resigned.
Current and former Microsoft employees alleged Kipman repeatedly got away with inappropriate behavior toward women employees, including unwanted touching. Kipman resigned less than two weeks after Insider’s story published. Keane was accused of berating employees and later resigned in July after 21 years with the company.
Ma did not immediately respond to Insider’s attempts to contact him about his departure, and previously did not comment about the allegations against him. Kipman and Keane also have not responded to multiple requests for comment in recent months.
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