SEATTLE — Microsoft Corp.'s chief financial officer and primary deal-maker resigned Wednesday, becoming the latest in a growing list of high-profile executives to leave the software giant.
The departure of Greg Maffei, who in January will become chief executive of a small Canadian telecommunications company, was seen as a setback to Microsoft. Maffei was regarded as one of the company's brightest talents and a skilled negotiator in a time when Microsoft has been seeking more and more alliances.
"He has been the deal-maker for them," said Jonathon Guerkink, a financial analyst for Ragen MacKenzie. "He was known as a very tough negotiator."
Microsoft has a bench stocked with management talent, but Maffei will be "awfully hard to replace," Douglas Crook, an analyst with Prudential Securities, told CBS Marketwatch.
Microsoft shares fell $2.94 to $115.25 in after-hours trading, reflecting Maffei's resignation. The stock had risen $1.69 to a record $117.56 in regular Nasdaq trading.
John Connors, a 10-year Microsoft veteran and a vice president in the finance department, will succeed Maffei in January.
Maffei is part of a new surge of executives leaving Microsoft to start Internet ventures, head up technology companies or who have amassed enough personal wealth to retire at a young age.
Others include Pete Higgins, a high-ranking Microsoft executive and member of Chairman Bill Gates' inner circle. He announced his resignation Friday and soon will form a high-tech consulting company.
The recent exodus also has included such Microsoft luminaries as Brad Silverberg, known as "Mr. Windows" of the 1990s, and John Ludwig, a behind-the-scenes player who brought networking and Internet savvy to the Windows effort.
Maffei's departure was not entirely unexpected. He earlier had wanted to take the top job at Road Runner, an Internet access provider, but Gates reportedly asked him to stay. Maffei recently sold 8% of his Microsoft holdings for $13.8 million, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. At Wednesday's closing, Maffei's 1.14 million stock options were worth an estimated $134 million.
Maffei, who was unavailable for comment, will become the chief executive of Worldwide Fiber, a Vancouver, Canada-based company that is building a $1.3-billion, 18,000-mile fiber-optic cable that aims to link such cities as Vancouver, Toronto, New York and Los Angeles in 2000.
