Microsoft Applications and Services chief Qi Lu leaves the company

Microsoft Executive Vice President Qi Lu is leaving the company, and Microsoft is reorganizing his team, splitting it into new, separate business units. Lu has been heading up the Applications and Services Group -- the unit that has encompassed the Office applications team and the Bing search team. In an email to employees on September 29, CEO Satya Nadella announced Lu was leaving so as to recover from "health conditions caused by a prior injury." Lu will continue to act as a "personal advisor" to Nadella and Microsoft Founder Bill Gates after his recovery, but he won't be returning in his former role, Nadella said in his mail. Microsoft hired Lu in 2008 from Yahoo to run the company's Online Services business.