There are a handful of names that typically surface when Microsoft is mentioned. Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer are usually among the top two, with Paul Allen rounding out the names that represent an older Microsoft. With Steve Ballmer’s departure a little over a year ago signaling the passing of the old guard at Microsoft, the floodgates for newer and fresher faces opened. While many of these names belong to long-time Microsoft employees, their presence, and more modern roles are helping to invigorate an arguably mature company.
Microsoft CFO Amy Hood is among Microsoft’s new faces making an impact on the company. Forbes has added Amy Hood to their list of “The World’s Most Powerful Women” of 2015. Amy joins the ranks of Bonnie Hammer, the Chair of NBCUniversal; Comcast, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and billionaire philanthropist, Melinda Gates. Amy handles overseeing Microsoft’s $86.8 billion revenue stream. She started off at Microsoft in 2002, in the company’s investor relations group. Eventually, Amy served as chief of staff in the Server and Tools Business within Microsoft. She also spent some time running the strategies and business development team in Microsoft’s Business division. Before taking the role of CFO of Microsoft in 2013 and replacing Peter Klein, Amy was working at Goldman Sachs with duties including investment banking and positions in capital market divisions.
Aside from managing Microsoft’s revenue stockpile, and being an integral part in the $2.5 billion acquisition of Minecraft, she’s also the company’s first female CFO. Under her watch, Microsoft’s commercial cloud revenue has reached an annual run rate of $5.5 billion and has grown by triple-digit percentages for six consecutive quarters, according to Forbes. Thanks to some intelligent work on her part and Microsoft, Amy is watching the company carefully pivot from a potentially struggling licensing model to a new cloud-connected future. “I think we’ve made great progress as a team,” Amy says. While Amy is the guest of honor on the Forbes list this year, there are some other female names to keep any eye on over at Microsoft. Chief Experience Officer, Julie Larson-Green, Executive Vice President, Tami Reller and Office Executive Julia White, should also be considerations for next year.
