As Microsoft CEO Stephen Elop may sell Office on iOS and Android, nix Bing and Xbox

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Bloomberg reports on Stephen Elop’s manifesto in his play for becoming the Microsoft CEO.

According three people “who asked not to be identified” the ex-Nokia CEO could move to increase Microsoft shareholder value by making Office software programs like Word, Excel and PowerPoint available on a broad variety of smartphones and tablets, including those made by Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Google Inc..

The move would be Elop going back to his roots, where as head of the Office division he pushed the Microsoft to enhance and find new ways to sell the software, said the people.

As head of Office he brought the software to Nokia’s Symbian phones, and created Office Web Apps and  headed efforts to create Office 365, the subscription version of the software.

According to two of  Bloomberg’s sources Elop believes  that Microsoft could create more value by maximizing sales of Office rather than by using it to prop up sales of Windows-based devices.

The same people also suggest Elop would sell money-losing ventures like Bing, and also healthy side offerings like Xbox if he determined they weren’t critical to the company’s strategy in an effort to sharpen the company’s focus.

A earlier call by Nomura Holdings Inc. analyst Rick Sherlund took Microsoft’s share price to a 10 year high recently.

While Windows Phone users know Elop mainly for his strong efforts to push forward Windows Phone, at Nokia, Elop was also responsible for 40,000 jobs cuts and reduced operating expenses by 50 percent. At Microsoft Stephen Elop would probably impose job cuts and belt-tightening to create smaller teams, said the people.

It is likely this leak has been orchestrated by Elop himself as he jockeys for the post of Microsoft CEO, setting himself up as the CEO who would make shareholder’s dreams come true.

Has these revelations changed our readers opinion of Stephen Elop as a Microsoft CEO candidate? Let us know below.

Via Bloomberg.com

More about the topics: microsoft, office, stephen elop, windows phone