I cannot take credit for the joke in this headline, but it’s simply too accurate to pass up: Today Helen Chiang, Xbox’s now-former COO of a mere three months, posted a lengthy LinkedIn missive in which she denied being fired over a reported “policy violation”—and also a whole bunch of other stuff nobody was really talking about.
“There has been some speculation about my abrupt departure from Microsoft, including claims that I was ‘fired for a policy violation,’” Chiang’s post began. “That’s not accurate and while I won’t turn this into a play-by-play, silence should not be mistaken for agreement. What has been said about my departure, and what has been left unsaid, has created a picture of me that I hardly recognize. It’s important to me to set the record straight.”
In this instance, Chiang was responding to a Eurogamer source’s claim, which the site noted it was unable to independently verify (raising questions as to why the site decided to publish it in the first place). There’s no denying, however, that the situation is odd. Sneaker-and-layoff-loving Xbox CEO Asha Sharma created the COO role in July as part of the company’s big “reset” and promoted Chiang—who’d been at Microsoft for 21 years, previously heading up Minecraft—into it. Chiang reported directly to Sharma with the goal of “[bringing] our businesses together under one operating model, making sure we make clear investment decisions, [learning] from our successes and failures, and [holding] ourselves accountable for results.”
An internal memo published by The Verge late last month did not provide any real details as to why Chiang was suddenly out.
“Helen Chiang is leaving Microsoft today,” read Sharma’s brief note to staff. “I’m grateful for her years of service and wish her well. … We’ll share more on COO leadership as plans are finalized.”
Today Chiang attempted to clear the air but only really succeeded in stirring up a confusing haze. Here are some highlights:
First, I did not leak confidential company information to the press. I have never communicated with any journalist outside the limited, company-authorized interviews I’ve done as part of my job. That includes every journalist who reached out this week seeking my side of the story.
OK! Given how much information current and former Xbox employees have been divulging to press ever since layoffs became the law of the land, I guess I can see the rationale in crossing this possibility off the list.
Second, I did not leave XBOX to join a competitor. You don’t spend two decades somewhere without developing a deep loyalty to the people, teams, and businesses you’ve helped build. XBOX was never just another stop in my career. My end game was always to keep building here.
Sure, alright!
Third, I did not engage in discrimination, bullying, harassment, insider trading, embezzlement, or other fraudulent activity. I stand by my record: both the results I delivered and the way I have treated people throughout my career. I won’t let speculation define my character or erase that record.
Oh. Um, OK. I haven’t really seen anyone making this claim, but if you say so.
Lastly, I did not leave because I was passed over for a bigger role. Since having children, I’ve been intentional about how I define ambition and success. I haven’t actively sought out bigger roles or increased responsibilities, and the last time I interviewed for a job was in 2011. My reputation and results paved the way for the opportunities that followed. I went where the company believed I was needed and where I could have the greatest impact. I did not ask for my most recent role, either. I was promoted into it in July.
Fair!
So that’s a whole lot of throat clearing about what didn’t happen, but Chiang never gets into what did. Instead, she ends on a note that suggests something went exceedingly awry, but stops short of naming it.
I believe in fairness, accountability, and holding ourselves to the standards we expect of others. Those standards only mean something when they’re applied consistently. I have serious concerns about how they were applied in my case, and I believe those concerns deserve to be taken seriously.
I share this because I don’t want my departure reduced to an inaccurate story about incompetence, ambition for the next big job, or a Nelson-level scandal. My story is about staying true to your core values, especially when it is hard. That’s the legacy I hope to leave behind.
…
This is not how I ever imagined my story here would end. And it is not the whole story.
(“Nelson-level scandal,” apparently refers to an internal Microsoft meme, not the much more well known Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb, one of the faces of Xbox until 2023. Another strange inclusion in a post full of them!)
Another normal day at Xbox, where things are definitely going great as we have documented repeatedly, do not agree with her, nor, as it turns out, does former Xbox VP Shannon Loftis, who commented on Chiang’s post
“The ‘leak’ itself … shows the loss of moral character and ‘clarity’ in leadership at Xbox,” Loftis wrote. “A real leadership team would have relentlessly pursued the ‘leaker’ and taken appropriate action because ‘confidential personnel matters’ actually are bases for defamation lawsuits. It’s a clownshow up in there and I feel terrible for anyone that still has to deal with it.”
“Come on, at least don’t do the work for her”
AftermathNathan Grayson
