Wal-Mart Exec Clicks on Microsoft Office

Kevin Turner, an executive for 19 years at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (Bentonville, Ark.), most recently as ceo of the Sam’s Club division, has been named chief operating officer at Microsoft Corp. (Redmond, Wash.).

It is reported that Turner will receive a hiring bonus of $7 million, a grant of 320,000 shares of Microsoft stock (currently worth $8.7 million), a base salary of $570,000 and the possibility of a bonus of up to 100 percent of his salary.

But it’s also reported that he’ll earn his money. The post of chief operating officer at Microsoft has proved lucrative yet precarious working with Microsoft’s longtime leaders, co-founder and chairman Bill Gates and ceo Steven Ballmer. The company’s previous chief operating officer, Richard Belluzzo, stepped down in 2002 after having the job for little more than a year. At the time, according to a report in this morning’s New York Times, Ballmer sent an e-mail message to Microsoft employees explaining that the job of chief operating officer would not be filled, in part to promote faster decision-making and a more entrepreneurial style in the business units.

But Ballmer has evidently concluded that added senior management is needed now. At a meeting with industry analysts last month, he made the case that Microsoft should still be regarded as a growth company, and noted the flurry of product introductions in the pipeline over the next two years, including new versions of the Windows desktop operating system, Windows server products, programming tools and a new generation of Microsoft’s Xbox video game console.

Turner will oversee worldwide sales, marketing, services and Microsoft’s internal technology operations. Kevin Johnson, the group vp who now heads most of those functions, will work closely with him “to ensure a smooth transition,” according to a Microsoft statement. Later, Johnson will be given an unspecified “new senior executive role,” the statement said.