# Frank Shaw is leaving Microsoft after 17 years

> The man who spent three decades defending Microsoft, correcting reporters, and reading his own mean tweets is stepping down.
- Title: Frank Shaw is leaving Microsoft after 17 years · The Verge
- Summary: The man who spent three decades defending Microsoft, correcting reporters, and reading his own mean tweets is stepping down. Shaw leaves at the end of…
- Keywords: microsoft, public relations, frank shaw, media, tech careers, technology, culture, Frank, Shaw, leaving, years, The Verge
- Source: The Verge — https://theverge.com/news/993791/microsoft-frank-shaw-leaving-head-of-comms
- Author: Tom Warren
- Published: 2026-09-11T16:01:34+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: microsoft, public relations, frank shaw, media, tech careers, technology, culture
## Twenty nine years, done
Frank Shaw is leaving Microsoft after 17 years as chief communications officer, capping 29 years supporting the company's comms.

> decided it is time for me to move on and try new things
## He started at the agency
Nearly 20 years came as a Microsoft employee. Before that he worked the account from Waggener Edstrom, the PR agency now known as We. Communications.
## At the center since 1997
Shaw helped Microsoft through multiple Windows and Office launches, two CEO transitions, and the company's bet on cloud.
## The megadeals he messaged
That includes the $26.2 billion LinkedIn purchase in 2016 and the $69 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition in 2023.
## Number one in PR
PRWeek put Shaw at the top of its 2026 list of the most powerful people in public relations.
## Direct, but respectful
Microsoft executives rate him highly. Employees describe a different feeling: dread at getting an email from him after misspeaking or leaking product plans.

> they always fear an email from him
## He fought back publicly
In 2013 he tore into Apple and the press for comparing iWork to Office, and he still shows up on X to kill rumors. At Microsoft's 50th party he read mean tweets about himself onstage.
## The Neowin years
Verge reporter Tom Warren first met Shaw as a teenage blogger posting confidential Microsoft documents. Microsoft's lawyers once knocked Neowin offline for 24 hours.
## Still bracing for the call
Decades of heated arguments and mutual respect later, Warren says a call from Shaw means Microsoft is about to announce something wild, or he is in trouble again.

> when Frank calls my phone, I brace myself
## What comes next, unsaid
Shaw is not retiring. He plans a break, then other things, and true to the job, he will not say what they are.
## His team is his ka-tet
His memo veers into Stephen King's Dark Tower, borrowing 'ka-tet' for a group bound by shared mission. He signs off with the books' farewell, effective in December.

> long days and pleasant nights
## Key takeaway

Shaw leaves at the end of December, and Microsoft has not named a successor yet.