Terry Myerson, the former head of Windows at Microsoft, will join Seattle investment firm Madrona Venture Group and The Carlyle Group.
Former longtime Microsoft executive Terry Myerson will join two investment firms, he said Tuesday, about seven months after announcing he would leave the Redmond tech giant.
Myerson has been named a venture partner at Seattle firm Madrona Venture Group, and operating executive at The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm based in Washington, D.C. Madrona invests in young companies, and the Carlyle Group helps bigger ones grow, Myerson wrote in a LinkedIn post Tuesday.
“I couldn’t be more excited to work with the leadership teams of great Madrona and Carlyle companies to grow their businesses,” he said.
After 21 years at Microsoft, Myerson left the company earlier this year after the company’s latest reorganization, which was designed to prioritize cloud-computing technologies and shifted the focus away from the Windows operating system.
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Myerson joined the company in 1996 when Microsoft bought the internet-marketing startup he founded, and went on to prominent roles including overseeing Xbox, Exchange and the attempt at a Windows Phone before leading the entire Windows business for five years.
Microsoft split its Windows business and put it under two broad engineering groups during its March reorganization, one that focuses on devices and Windows and Office software, and the other encompassing cloud and artificial intelligence.
It was a tough decision to leave, Myerson said this week, but it was made slightly easier because Microsoft has been doing well in many areas recently.
“I got to leave on a high note,” he said.
In his time off from Microsoft, Myerson said he learned to play a bit of piano, brushed up on his golf game and volunteered with the Seattle Foundation, before looking for his next job.
“After being married to Microsoft for 21 years, it was very interesting to get out and meet people on the outside and see the diversity of opportunities out there,” he wrote. “I realized pretty quickly from my discussions that right now isn’t the time to get married again to another all-in position.”
Myerson has started work part-time at both Madrona and Carlyle.