Mark Penn has spent years spinning for politicians in Washington. Now his own career is the subject of spin here at Microsoft, where he has been handed a fresh role under its new chief executive. Mr. Penn, 60, joined Microsoft in 2012 as a senior adviser to Steven A. Ballmer, the chief executive at the time, and later came to oversee its advertising. On Monday, he was named chief strategy officer for the tech giant, a role that seemed to position him as a critical adviser to the company’s new leader, Satya Nadella. …
The divided reactions to his new position show how Mr. Penn has become something of a Rorschach test for his colleagues at Microsoft. Some see him as a thoughtful adviser who rubs hidebound colleagues the wrong way by presenting them with useful data on messaging and strategy that runs counter to their intuition. Others say he massages his research, conducted through the polling of consumers, to bolster his own preconceived ideas. CONT.
Nick Wingfield, New York Times