---
created_at: '2011-02-13T13:00:09.000Z'
title: 'Microsoft beware: Stephen Elop is a flight risk (2008)'
url: http://www.siliconbeat.com/2008/01/11/microsoft-beware-stephen-elop-is-a-flight-risk/
author: borism
points: 58
story_text: ''
comment_text: 
num_comments: 12
story_id: 
story_title: 
story_url: 
parent_id: 
created_at_i: 1297602009
_tags:
- story
- author_borism
- story_2212657
objectID: '2212657'

---
[Source](http://www.siliconbeat.com/2008/01/11/microsoft-beware-stephen-elop-is-a-flight-risk/?doing_wp_cron=1519395771.4297220706939697265625 "Permalink to Microsoft beware: Stephen Elop is a flight risk")

# Microsoft beware: Stephen Elop is a flight risk

[ ![SiliconBeat][1] ][2]

* [SiliconValley.com][3]
* [Twitter][4]
* [Facebook][5]
* [Google+][6]
* [RSS][7]
* ![][8]

 

* [Social][9]
* [Web][10]
* [Mobile][11]
* [Cloud][12]
* [Gadgets][13]
* [Cleantech][14]
* [VC][15]
* [Data][16]
* [Games][17]
* [Policy][18]
* [Media][19]
*  

# Microsoft beware: Stephen Elop is a flight risk

By [Bay Area News Group blog editor][20] / January 11, 2008 at 11:23 AM

Remember the good old days when a top Silicon Valley executive leaving the Bay Area to join a certain large software company in Redmond, Washington, was not exactly news? More often the past few years the travel has been in the other direction, from Seattle area companies to a certain large search-engine company in Mountain View.

Well, Stephen Elop is making news by giving up his job as chief operating officer job at  
Juniper Networks after one year to take over as the top executive of Microsoft’s business software division.

The move will actually cut down Elop’s commute to work. He lives in Canada.

Maybe Microsoft put up a sign on the roof of its headquarters that read “If you worked here, you’d be there already” that Elop might have seen on one of his regular commutes down to the valley.

That’s right, Elop was commuting from Canada to Silicon Valley these past two years, and doing it on his employer’s dime. First at [Adobe Systems,][21] which bought his previous employer Macromedia in late 2005. Adobe paid out $145,149 to cover Elop’s commuting from Canada in 2006.

After he had been working at Adobe for about six months, Elop told the company in June 2006 he’d be leaving, setting his departure date as Dec.5, one year to the day since he had been hired. For his year of service, Elop was paid a $500,000 salary and $315,000 bonus. Oh, and got a $1.88 million severance payment, on top of that. And all of his restricted shares vested when he left, despite the original performance strings that had been attached to them.

No, we’re not making this up.

At [Juniper][22], where Elop resigned on Wednesday — also one year to the day from when he started — he was guaranteed $200,000 in additional “relocation reimbursement and benefits” plus “reimbursement of travel costs between his current home and Juniper’s offices in Sunnyvale.” That was in addition to his $540,000 salary.

Not coincidentally, we suspect, Wednesday was also the day the first installment vested of a 300,000 option award given him when he was hired in January 2007. Juniper had a very good 2007, with its stock price rising 75 percent last year. The 75,000 shares of his option grant set to vest Wednesday were priced at $20.23, making them worth $794,250 that day.

He starts at Microsoft at the end of the month. Mark the date. You know Elop will.

### Share this:

* [Email][23]
* [Twitter][24]
* [Facebook][25]
* [LinkedIn][26]
* [Reddit][27]
* [Google][28]
* [More][29]
* * [Pinterest][30]
* [Tumblr][31]
* *  

 

More Posts in 1

* ![A vehicle with both Lyft and Uber windshield decals is parked Monday afternoon Dec. 14, 2015, near Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, Calif. \(Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group\)][32]

## [Uber and Lyft want you banned from using your own self-driving car in urban areas][33]

February 2, 2018

 

* ![People check out the Tesla Model 3, at the electric sedan's first
appearance in a Tesla showroom, on Friday, Jan. 12 at Stanford Shopping
Center in Palo Alto, Calif. \(Ethan Baron/Bay Area News Group\)][34]

## [Tesla Model 3s now on display at San Jose’s Santana Row and in Walnut Creek][35]

February 2, 2018

 

* ![Intel beat by Samsung as top chip maker after a quarter century of world dominance: report][36]

## [Intel beat by Samsung as top chip maker after a quarter century of world dominance: report][37]

January 31, 2018

 

 

 

Share this Post

[Tweet][38]  
  

 

 

 

* johnny fairplay

Yeah, right on. Really sweet that someone published the truth about how Elop “manages his career”

* Yea Right

And he is still there. Looks like you were wrong. Doesn’t surprise me.

* Timo

Today is the time for the BIG move. Let’s hope that he makes a good job.

* yea wrong

have to give Jack Davis and Johnny Fairplay kudos. Mark the date again – Sept 2010. No chance of him commuting to Canada this time.

* Anonymous

Are you a wizard?!

* Deepesh

Looks like Elop may elope with a potentially comeback saga of Nokia 🙁

* NuShrike

Pretty loyal to MS still even after poisoning Nokia.

* Alex

Well, 2+ years at MSFT before destroying NOK is pretty reasonable given his track record. The question is… will he finish 1 year @ NOK before they eject him?
* hailey56

what they don’t mention is that that money is used so he can visit his kids

 

 

 

[Tweets from @siliconbeat/siliconbeat][39]

 

Popular Posts

* [Elon Musk breaks down in tears while describing…][40]
* [Alibaba sees better-than-expected sales in 2017][41]
* [Steve Wozniak: ‘I don’t believe anything Elon…][42]
* [SiliconBeat is moving][43]
* [Eric Schmidt’s daughter Alison dead after a long…][44]

 

 

Archives

Archives Select Month February 2018  January 2018  December 2017  November 2017  October 2017  September 2017  August 2017  July 2017  June 2017  May 2017  April 2017  March 2017  February 2017  January 2017  December 2016  November 2016  October 2016  September 2016  August 2016  July 2016  June 2016  May 2016  April 2016  March 2016  February 2016  January 2016  December 2015  November 2015  October 2015  September 2015  August 2015  July 2015  June 2015  May 2015  April 2015  March 2015  February 2015  January 2015  December 2014  November 2014  October 2014  September 2014  August 2014  July 2014  June 2014  May 2014  April 2014  March 2014  February 2014  January 2014  December 2013  November 2013  October 2013  September 2013  August 2013  July 2013  June 2013  May 2013  April 2013  March 2013  February 2013  January 2013  December 2012  November 2012  October 2012  September 2012  August 2012  July 2012  June 2012  May 2012  April 2012  March 2012  February 2012  January 2012  December 2011  November 2011  October 2011  September 2011  August 2011  July 2011  June 2011  May 2011  April 2011  March 2011  February 2011  January 2011  December 2010  November 2010  October 2010  September 2010  August 2010  July 2010  June 2010  May 2010  April 2010  March 2010  February 2010  January 2010  December 2009  November 2009  October 2009  September 2009  August 2009  July 2009  June 2009  May 2009  April 2009  March 2009  February 2009  January 2009  December 2008  November 2008  October 2008  September 2008  August 2008  July 2008  June 2008  May 2008  April 2008  March 2008  February 2008  January 2008  December 2007  November 2007  October 2007  September 2007  August 2007  July 2007  June 2007  May 2007  April 2007  March 2007  February 2007  January 2007  December 2006  November 2006  October 2006  September 2006  August 2006  July 2006  June 2006  May 2006  April 2006  March 2006  February 2006  January 2006  December 2005  November 2005  October 2005  September 2005  August 2005  July 2005  June 2005  May 2005  April 2005  March 2005  February 2005 

 

Related Feeds

* [60-Second Business Break][45]
* [Green Energy][46]
* [News][47]
* [Opinion][48]
* [Personal Tech][49]
* [Venture Capital][50]

 

* [About SiliconBeat][51]
* [Sign up for the Good Morning Silicon Valley newsletter][52]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

![WPZOOM][53] [Education WordPress Theme][54] by

Copyright © 2018 Bay Area News Group. All Rights Reserved

 

![css.php][55]

Send to Email Address Your Name Your Email Address ![loading][56] [Cancel][57]

Post was not sent - check your email addresses! 

Email check failed, please try again 

Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. 

[1]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/SiliconBeat_header_559x124.jpg
[2]: http://www.siliconbeat.com "What's next in tech"
[3]: http://www.siliconvalley.com
[4]: https://twitter.com/siliconbeat
[5]: http://www.facebook.com/pages/SiliconBeat/324955307584131
[6]: https://plus.google.com/+Siliconbeat/posts
[7]: http://feeds.feedburner.com/SiliconbeatTech
[8]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/wp-content/themes/erudito/images/icons/rss_small.png
[9]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/category/social/
[10]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/category/web/
[11]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/category/mobile-2/
[12]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/category/cloud/
[13]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/category/gadgets/
[14]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/category/clean_tech/
[15]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/category/venturecapital/
[16]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/category/big-data/
[17]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/category/games/
[18]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/category/government-policy/
[19]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/category/media/
[20]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/author/admin/ "Posts by Bay Area News Group blog editor"
[21]: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/796343/000110465905059604/a05-21249_18k.htm
[22]: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1043604/000129993307000129/htm_17457.htm
[23]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/2008/01/11/microsoft-beware-stephen-elop-is-a-flight-risk/?share=email "Click to email this to a friend"
[24]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/2008/01/11/microsoft-beware-stephen-elop-is-a-flight-risk/?share=twitter "Click to share on Twitter"
[25]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/2008/01/11/microsoft-beware-stephen-elop-is-a-flight-risk/?share=facebook "Click to share on Facebook"
[26]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/2008/01/11/microsoft-beware-stephen-elop-is-a-flight-risk/?share=linkedin "Click to share on LinkedIn"
[27]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/2008/01/11/microsoft-beware-stephen-elop-is-a-flight-risk/?share=reddit "Click to share on Reddit"
[28]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/2008/01/11/microsoft-beware-stephen-elop-is-a-flight-risk/?share=google-plus-1 "Click to share on Google+"
[29]: http://www.siliconbeat.com#
[30]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/2008/01/11/microsoft-beware-stephen-elop-is-a-flight-risk/?share=pinterest "Click to share on Pinterest"
[31]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/2008/01/11/microsoft-beware-stephen-elop-is-a-flight-risk/?share=tumblr "Click to share on Tumblr"
[32]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Uber-Lyft-2-30x30.jpg
[33]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/2018/02/02/uber-and-lyft-want-you-banned-from-using-your-own-self-driving-car-in-a-big-city/ "Permalink to Uber and Lyft want you banned from using your own self-driving car in urban areas"
[34]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/SJM-L-TESLASHOW3-0113-30x30.jpg
[35]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/2018/02/02/tesla-model-3s-now-on-display-at-san-joses-santana-row-and-in-walnut-creek/ "Permalink to Tesla Model 3s now on display at San Jose’s Santana Row and in Walnut Creek"
[36]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/intel_generic-30x30.jpg
[37]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/2018/01/31/intel-beat-by-samsung-as-top-chip-maker-after-a-quarter-century-of-world-dominance-report/ "Permalink to Intel beat by Samsung as top chip maker after a quarter century of world dominance: report"
[38]: http://twitter.com/share
[39]: https://twitter.com/siliconbeat/siliconbeat
[40]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/2017/11/15/elon-musk-breaks-down-in-tears-while-describing-terrible-father-report/
[41]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/2017/01/24/alibaba-sees-better-expected-sales-2017/
[42]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/2018/01/29/steve-wozniak-dont-believe-anything-elon-musk-tesla-says/
[43]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/2018/02/05/siliconbeat-is-moving/
[44]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/2017/06/09/eric-schmidts-daughter-alison-dead-after-a-long-illness/
[45]: http://feeds.mercurynews.com/mngi/rss/CustomRssServlet/568/200792.xml
[46]: http://feeds.siliconvalley.com/mngi/rss/CustomRssServlet/573/283802.xml
[47]: http://feeds.mercurynews.com/mngi/rss/CustomRssServlet/568/200125.xml
[48]: http://feeds.mercurynews.com/mngi/rss/CustomRssServlet/568/200224.xml
[49]: http://feeds.siliconvalley.com/mngi/rss/CustomRssServlet/573/206305.xml
[50]: http://feeds.mercurynews.com/mngi/rss/CustomRssServlet/568/200774.xml
[51]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/about-siliconbeat/
[52]: http://apps.mercurynews.com/newsletters/gmsv/?mail=news
[53]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/wp-content/themes/erudito/images/wpzoom.png
[54]: http://www.wpzoom.com
[55]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/wp-content/plugins/cookies-for-comments/css.php?k=0534349904d0442d9b52b4581bf66c5a&o=i&t=212208212
[56]: http://www.siliconbeat.com/wp-content/plugins/jetpack/modules/sharedaddy/images/loading.gif
[57]: http://www.siliconbeat.com#cancel

