Microsoft Chief Financial Officer quitting

It’s been a slow news week, which is pretty common for the days leading up to Thanksgiving. (Christmas, too, for that matter.) That’s why it’s a good time to drop bombs that people in the US may just ignore while on their way to a turkey dinner.

To-wit: the news that Chris Liddell – the guy who’s been in charge of Microsoft’s Finances for the past four years – is leaving on December 31. Chris has had some very hard times at the financial helm of MS. Mary-Jo Foley has a good synopsis on her ZDNet blog. But this comment from her blog mystifies me:

Some shareholders and company observers — pointing to Microsoft’s continued stalled stock price — have been calling increasingly for CEO Steve Ballmer’s replacement. I wonder whether Liddell’s departure will appease the anti-Ballmer camp, or whether it will give Microsoft watchers even more cause for worry about the company’s future strategic direction.

Microsoft’s stock price has been doing quite well lately. Since May, the stock’s up 50% or so. See for yourself: look at the six-month or one-year results at, e.g., the Google Finance site. Microsoft’s stock is back up to the heady days of 2007 – almost entirely because of the success of Windows 7, in my opinion.