微软新总裁是个什么样的人？

    在微软工作多年，布拉德·史密斯阅历非常丰富。

    史密斯1993年加入微软，此前是Covington & Burling律师事务所合伙人。1993年的微软还在开发一个代号“芝加哥”的项目，后来成为家喻户晓的Windows 95。

    那段时间微软蒸蒸日上，竞争力极强。史密斯也在工作中大展身手。比尔·盖茨领导下的微软很快就深陷与美国司法部之间的反垄断官司中。美国司法部针对的是微软如何垄断了PC操作系统领域，市场份额超过80%。几年后，微软又惹上了类似的官司，这次受指责的是该公司将IE浏览器和Windows捆绑销售的行为。千禧年之际，史蒂夫·鲍尔默接替盖茨担任CEO，当时的微软官司缠身。到2005年，鲍尔默成功解决了大部分官司。

    史密斯2002年出任微软法律总顾问。在这些诉讼谈判里，他一直紧密协助鲍尔默。此前他做了三年的欧洲法律和公司事务负责人，后在副总法律顾问的位置上干了五年。任职期间，史密斯在竞争法规和知识产权问题等方面赢得多项重要判决，进而改变了科技行业的发展轨迹；他决定收购的知识产权仍在给微软带来收益，他发起的打击软件盗版并解决其他网络安全问题的行动仍在继续。他的最新工作是为“云”，也就是为云计算（即把个人或公司数据存储在微软管理的分布式服务器上）奠定法律基础。

    2007年，《财富》杂志高级编辑罗杰·帕洛夫把史密斯描述为“文雅、周到而且可靠的律师，有人说他代表了后垄断时代微软更友善、更温和的形象。” 在华盛顿州雷德蒙德市微软总部，帕洛夫和史密斯进行了面对面交流。帕洛夫随后写道，从史密斯身上可以看到“专注、坚定、不经意间流露出一丝常春藤盟校的傲慢和野心”（全文请参见《财富》杂志2007年5月28日刊登的文章《Microsoft Takes On The Free World》）。

    上周五，微软CEO萨蒂亚·纳德拉将史密斯提拔为微软总裁，这是2002年以来首次有人出任这个职务，微软上一任总裁还是理查德·“里克”· 贝鲁佐。除了负责处理日常法律事务，史密斯还成为首席法务官。纳德拉在宣布此项人事调整的公告中写道，史密斯将负责“隐私、安全、便利性、环境可持续性以及数字融合等，同时领导跨55个国家和地区的商业、法律以及公司事务专业团队。这些团队在微软的工作包括法律事务、知识产权、专利授权、政府事务、公共政策以及企业公民和社会责任。”

    史密斯仍将向纳德拉汇报。

    纳德拉对微软高管层进行了一系列重大调整，史密斯的升迁只是最新一例。今夏早些时候，资深科技圈人士、诺基亚前CEO史蒂芬•艾洛普、商业应用业务负责人基里尔·塔塔里诺夫、长期在高层任职的埃里克·鲁德尔以及政治活动家马克·佩恩都离开了微软。同时，随着纳德拉大举推进他在今年6月份提出的规划，特里·梅森和斯科特·格思里都已分别履新。（财富中文网）

    译者：Charlie

    审校：詹妮

    In his many years at Microsoft, Brad Smith has seen a lot.

    A former partner at Covington & Burling, Smith joined the company MSFT -1.01% in 1993, back when it was still working on a project code-named “Chicago” that would eventually become a household name: Windows 95.

    In those years, Microsoft was ascendant and highly competitive. Smith had his work cut out for him. Microsoft, led by Bill Gates, would soon find itself mired in an antitrust lawsuit with the U.S. Justice Department focused on how Microsoft attained dominance—at the time, more than 80% market share for PCs—in operating system software. A few years later, Microsoft was back in court for similar claims, this time pertaining to its bundling of its Internet Explorer web browser with Windows. By the time Steve Ballmer was named CEO, replacing Gates at the turn of the millennium, the company found itself fighting multiple legal battles. Ballmer managed to settle most of them by 2005.

    Smith, who was named the company’s general counsel in 2002, was right there alongside Ballmer, overseeing the negotiations. He spent three years leading its Legal and Corporate Affairs (LCA) team in Europe and five years as deputy general counsel. His tenure at Microsoft is marked by major competition law and intellectual property decisions that have shifted the trajectory of the technology industry, intellectual property acquisitions that still pay dividends for the company, and battles over software piracy and other cybersecurity concerns that continue unabated. His latest project? Establish the legal foundations for “the cloud,” a.k.a. cloud computing, in which a person or company’s data is stored in a distributed manner on Microsoft-operated servers.

    In 2007, Fortune’s own Roger Parloff wrote that Smith was “a polished, thoughtful, and credible advocate whom some have described as the face of the kinder, gentler, post-monopoly Microsoft.” In a face-to-face interview at the company’s Redmond, Wash. headquarters, Smith projected “intensity, determination, a hint of Ivy League hauteur, and ambition,” Parloff wrote. (Read the rest in “Microsoft Takes On The Free World” from the May 28, 2007 issue of Fortune magazine.)

    On Friday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella promoted Smith to president of Microsoft, a role that hasn’t existed since 2002, when Richard “Rick” Belluzzo occupied it. In addition to his usual legal duties—he’s now also chief legal officer—Smith will be responsible for “privacy, security, accessibility, environmental sustainability and digital inclusion,” Nadella wrote in the announcement of the change. “He also leads a team of business, legal, and corporate affairs professionals spanning 55 countries. These teams are responsible for the company’s legal work, its intellectual property portfolio, patent licensing business, and the company’s government affairs, public policy, corporate citizenship and social responsibility work.”

    He will continue to report to Nadella.

    Smith’s promotion is only the latest in a series of major moves by Microsoft’s CEO to overhaul its senior management team. Earlier this summer, Microsoft bid adieu to veteran and former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, business applications chief Kirill Tatarinov, longtime executive Eric Rudder, and politico Mark Penn. Meanwhile Terry Myerson and Scott Guthrie took on new responsibilities as Nadella made strides toward an agenda he outlined in June.