Microsoft has placed a grizzled long-time exec of its Internet wars, Yusuf Mehdi, back at the helm to take over a large section of Microsoft’s online services portfolio–including marketing, online audience business development and product management for MSN and the search properties, the company said Monday.
His team will take charge to handle marketing, product management, strategic partnerships, and business improvements for MSN and the search properties, according to reports.
Medhi, formerly Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, has shifted his duties from mergers and acquisitions to MSN and Microsoft’s search properties.
Mehdi, is now leading “audience marketing” for MSN and Microsoft’s search business, which means “he will have responsibility for product management, marketing, partnerships and business development for search and MSN,” spokesman Frank Shaw said.
He conducts most of the job’s marketing and search tasks off the plate of Bill Veghte, the senior VP now focusing mainly on the Windows and Windows Live groups; Veghte picks up a new title, Senior Vice President for the Windows Business. Brian Hall and his Windows Live teams still report to Veghte, Microsoft said.
But Medhi is not stepping into the top spot for the online properties group, leaderless since Kevin Johnson left for Juniper Networks in the wake of the failed Yahoo acquisition. However, as a replacement has been promised by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in late July — That leader, Microsoft has yet to name an overall digital head for these online properties.
Mehdi was previously the SVP for strategic partnerships under Johnson.
For now, Mehdi becomes part of a troika that comprises Brian McAndrews, the SVP for the advertiser and publisher solutions group, and Satya Nadella, the SVP who heads engineering for Microsoft’s search, portal and advertising platform group.
Until a new Online Audience Business head is hired, Johnson’s responsibilities have been divvied up among several executives, including Mehdi, Nadella and McAndrews will report to Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, the company said. Jon Tinter of the MSN group and Brad Goldberg of the search group will report to Mehdi.
A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to BetaNews Tuesday afternoon that the search is still most definitely on for that person.
The question now is who will tame this three-headed beast is still unknown–both Mehdi and McAndrews have been considered the top internal candidates to lead the online properties group, which has been struggling for direction after Microsoft’s failed takeover of Yahoo.
Mehdi a native of Mercer Island is one of the few locals in top positions at Microsoft, holding a master’s degree from the University of Washington, he joined the company in 1992 and from 2000 to 2005, Mehdi led the MSN engineering group, including MSN.com, adCenter and MSN Search.
Recently he has been working on strategic partnerships, such as the acquisition of Seattle-based aQuantive and attempted Yahoo merger.
With the stock market in flux, Yahoo’s shares have plummeted in recent days, closing at just below $17 a share, with a market cap of almost half of what Microsoft’s initial offer was early this year.
It may be that Microsoft’s appetite for an online services acquisition has been refreshed. It is indistinct that Yahoo’s Carl Icahn is encouraging that service to merge with AOL, and rumors abound that a merged AOL-Yahoo would pique the interest of Microsoft once more.