Liddell leaving Microsoft to expand his career

The Dominion Post

MUTUAL ADMIRATION: Microsoft chief financial officer Chris Liddell, left, enjoys a smile and a cuppa with his former mentor Sir Wilson Whineray.

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When Chris Liddell resigns as Microsoft's finance chief he is likely to develop his career abroad, given he is used to "playing in a bigger pool", says former mentor, rugby great Sir Wilson Whineray.

Microsoft said yesterday that Mr Liddell would leave the firm at the end of the year after five years in the post to "expand his career beyond being a chief financial officer".

Sir Wilson, who was Carter Holt Harvey chairman when Mr Liddell was chief executive, reckoned the ex-pat Kiwi would pursue job opportunities in the US or Europe.

Mr Liddell was competent and hard working and could work in any field of business, he said.

Microsoft senior public relations manager Carol Leishman met Mr Liddell yesterday and said he was "very excited about his future".

While he was well respected in the software industry, Mr Liddell had the ability to transcend industries, she said.

Mr Liddell had groomed his replacement, Peter Klein, the finance chief of the company's business software division, she said.

Mr Liddell joined Microsoft in 2005, the first outsider to be named chief financial officer in 20 years.

In the past financial year, he led a US$3 billion (NZ$4.1b) cut to expenses, including group-wide job cuts. Before joining Microsoft, Mr Liddell was chief financial officer at International Paper, the world's largest forest products company.

He was chief executive of Carter Holt Harvey, then New Zealand's second largest public company, and worked as an investment banker and managing director for Credit Suisse First Boston NZ.