Martin Andrew Taylor

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Martin Andrew Taylor is an Operating Principal at Vista Equity Partners and the President of Vista Consulting Group. He previously served as Corporate Vice President of Windows Live and MSN Marketing at Microsoft and was Steve Ballmer’s Chief of Staff for many years.

Taylor studied economics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and joined Microsoft in 1993, eventually leading its Caribbean subsidiary. He worked closely with Ballmer, became Ballmer’s chief of staff in 2002, and later helped reorganize Microsoft into seven business groups. In 2003, he led efforts against Linux and helped redevelop Windows, launching the Get the Facts marketing campaign about cost of ownership, security, reliability, and interoperability. In March 2006, he was named Corporate Vice President of Windows Live and MSN marketing, overseeing Windows Live Messenger and more than 20 other Windows Live services. In June 2006, Microsoft announced they were parting ways with him. He joined Vista Equity Partners in December 2006.