Former Xbox COO Helen Chiang suddenly left Microsoft less than two weeks ago after being promoted to the role in July. I wrote in my Notepad Last week, it seemed very strange that Chiang would suddenly leave Microsoft after 21 years with a surprisingly short memo from Xbox CEO Asha Sharma. Today, Chiang says she has “serious concerns” about the way she was treated.
In a lengthy article on LinkedIn, titled “clarity is kindness,” a reference to Sharma’s speech WSJ profile — Chiang does not deny that she was fired, but she does not say why she was fired. Eurogamer reported last month that Chiang was “terminated for policy violations,” but she says that’s “not accurate.”
Chiang denies unfounded rumors that she leaked confidential information or left to join a competitor. It’s clear that the decision to leave Xbox wasn’t his. “You don’t spend two decades somewhere without developing a deep loyalty to the people, teams and companies you helped build,” Chiang says. “Xbox has never been just another step in my career. My ultimate goal has always been to keep building here.”
She also denies engaging in “discrimination, intimidation, harassment, insider trading, embezzlement or any other fraudulent activity.” As I wrote in Notepad Last week, several Xbox employees described Chiang to me as highly respected and with great integrity. “I stand by my record: both the results I have achieved and the way I have treated people throughout my career,” Chiang says.
The most important part of Chiang’s message is a paragraph about fairness and accountability, implying that she was not treated fairly:
I believe in fairness, accountability and upholding the standards we expect of others. These standards only make sense when applied consistently. I have serious concerns about how they were applied in my case, and I believe those concerns deserve to be taken seriously.
Chiang also says, “This is not how I would have imagined my story would end here. And it’s not the whole story.”
We contacted Chiang to ask if she was taking legal action against Microsoft. We also asked Microsoft for comment on Chiang’s post, but the company did not respond in time for publication.
Gn tech
