Microsoft president Rick Belluzzo announces resignation

Microsoft president and chief operating officer Rick Belluzzo says he is stepping down after a little more than a year in the position.

Mr Belluzzo, a long-time computer and software industry executive, joined Microsoft in September, 1999, and held several senior positions before being promoted to his current position in February 2001.

Microsoft says in a statement Mr Belluzzo will remain in his position until May, and will stay at the company until September to organise the transition.

In his prior positions, Mr Belluzzo focused much of his attention on the company's consumer operations, including its Xbox game system, its MSN Messenger instant messaging system and its Ultimate TV service.

Mr Belluzzo was also instrumental early on in the company's .NET initiative for delivering a variety of services over the internet.

Before joining Microsoft, he was briefly chief executive of Silicon Graphics and previously spent 23 years at Hewlett-Packard.

Mr Belluzzo replaced Bob Herbold, a longtime Microsoft executive who continues to work part-time for Microsoft in its dealings with industry and political leaders.

In trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, shares of Microsoft closed at 56.33, down 97 cents, but were up 17 cents in after-hours trading.