Microsoft losing acquisition playmaker
Microsoft will need to find a new point person for its acquisitions strategy after confirming that Bruce Jaffe is moving on.
Bruce Jaffe, corporate vice president for corporate development at Microsoft
(Credit: Microsoft)Jaffe will remain as vice president of corporate development until the end of February. Valleywag first reported his departure on Wednesday, suggesting he was off to found his own start-up in Silicon Valley. Marketwatch was able to confirm Jaffe's departure with Microsoft representatives, but didn't shed any light on his future plans.
Microsoft just announced its intention to acquire Fast Search and Transfer, an enterprise search company, for $1.2 billion, meaning somebody else will probably have to help wrap up that deal. Last year, the company acquired Aquantive for $6 billion, Tellme for around $800 million, and invested $240 million in Facebook.
In a previous life Jaffe was the CFO for Microsoft's MSN division, and also had roles overseeing acquisitions related to Microsoft's consumer business, groups like MSNBC and Microsoft Games. He's been living in Seattle, but has roots in the Bay Area with an undergraduate degree from Cal and an M.B.A. from Stanford. That must make for an interesting Big Game weekend every year.
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom. 
