Christopher C Capossela

Capossela, Microsoft’s chief marketing officer and executive vice president for marketing and consumer business, wears several hats. He’s in charge of Microsoft’s marketing and communications, the consumer and device sales teams, along with advertising, sales and physical stores. In 1991 Capossela, known inside Microsoft as ChrisCap, graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, which Bill Gates had dropped out of in 1975, and went to work at Microsoft as a marketing manager. In the late 1990s he spent two and a half years as Bill Gates’ speech assistant, and was corporate vice president for Office marketing for more than seven years, according to his LinkedIn profile. A 2011 Microsoft statement described Capossela as being “instrumental in ushering Office into the cloud with Office Web Apps and Office 365.” Nadella made him marketing chief in 2014. He delegated everything, one former Microsoft marketing executive told AdAge in 2014. “Marketing at Microsoft includes building a profitable business, so understanding the flow of money is crucial,” Capossela said in a 2014 interview.