Microsoft reoganizes as Johnson departs

REDMOND, Wash., July 24 (UPI) -- Microsoft Corp. Thursday said it would split a 14,000-employee division in two, the result of a high level executive departure.

The Redmond, Wash., company's Platforms and Services, led by departing executive Kevin Johnson, will be split into a division that includes Windows and Windows Live and another that includes Online Services. Both divisions will be overseen by current Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer, the Seattle Times reported Thursday.

Three senior vice presidents, Steven Sinofsky, Jon DeVaan and Bill Veghte, will run the Windows and Windows Live group and report directly to Ballmer. But no leader was announced for the Online division, the Times reported.

Analysts said Johnson's departure may have caught the company by surprise. Johnson was one of the executives leading the so far unfruitful initiative to purchase Yahoo! Inc., the Times reported.

Johnson is leaving to take over Juniper Networks, a network equipment firm.

"It sounds as though what really happened is Kevin either got fired or left, and they're just kind of making a patch of it," technology analyst and consultant Mark Anderson told the newspaper.