Microsoft CFO Moves On
November 25, 2009
Short honk: New Zealander Chris Liddell, according a Barron’s blog, is saying “Adios” to Microsoft. You can read the full news item “Microsoft Liddell Leaving; Replaced by Peter Klein” and get the scoop free of the addled goose’s honking. I don’t know the names of Microsoft’s various chief financial officers, but I will probably remember Mr. Liddell. He was CFO when Microsoft paid a remarkable $1.23 billion for the Fast Search & Transfer SA outfit in April 2008. In October 2008, the Norwegian police kicked off a formal investigation of Fast Search. Almost a year later, Microsoft Fast is available for download with a spiffy new interface and no reference to the legal questions that surfaced in mid 2007. I have no idea if Mr. Liddell and his team reviewed the Fast deal, performed the due diligence for the buy out, or have done the math to make the $1.23 billion investment pay off. One thing is certain: I will remember this most amazing acquisition and the person on whose watch the deal took place. Brilliant move? Misstep? I just don’t know.
Stephen Arnold, November 25, 2009
I wish to disclose to the Securities and Exchange Commission and to the Norwegian police that no one paid me to write about my association of Microsoft, $1.23 billion, and search technology. It’s a freebie.
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