Former Xbox chief operating officer Helen Chiang has publicly challenged accounts of her abrupt departure from Microsoft, saying she has serious concerns about her treatment. Her exit came less than two weeks before November 2, following 21 years at the company and a promotion to the COO position in July.
In a lengthy LinkedIn post titled “Clarity is Kindness,” Chiang addressed reports and speculation surrounding her departure. The title referenced a Wall Street Journal profile of Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, who had announced Chiang’s exit in a brief internal memo. Chiang did not dispute that she had been fired, but did not explain why Microsoft had dismissed her.
Chiang specifically rejected Eurogamer’s report from the previous month that she had been terminated for policy violations, describing that account as “not accurate.” She also denied unfounded rumors that she had leaked confidential information or left Microsoft to work for a competitor.
Her post made clear that leaving Xbox had not been her choice. Chiang described the loyalty she had developed toward colleagues, teams and businesses during more than two decades at Microsoft, saying she had intended to continue her career there. “My end game was always to keep building here,” she wrote.
Chiang also denied involvement in discrimination, bullying, harassment, insider trading, embezzlement or other fraudulent activity. She defended both her professional achievements and her conduct toward others throughout her career. The Verge reported that multiple Xbox employees had described her as highly respected and a person of integrity.
A central part of Chiang’s statement questioned whether standards of fairness and accountability had been applied consistently. She said those principles mattered only when people were held to them on a consistent basis. “I have serious concerns about how they were applied in my case, and I believe those concerns deserve to be taken seriously,” she wrote.
Chiang did not present her statement as a complete account of the circumstances surrounding her departure. She said the ending was not one she had envisioned for her time at Microsoft and indicated that there was more to the story.
The Verge contacted Chiang to ask whether she was pursuing legal action against Microsoft. It also sought Microsoft’s response to her LinkedIn post, but the company had not replied by publication.
