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Former Microsoft exec Steven Sinofsky signs on as advisor at Box

With this latest piece of news, it's looking very unlikely that Sinofsky would move into the CEO role at Microsoft.
Written by Rachel King, Contributor
steven-sinofsky

Former Microsoft exec Steven Sinofsky has been racking up new gigs lately, and his latest deal is with a rising cloud company that loves to poke fun at his former employers.

Sinofsky, who served as president of the Windows division before he left the Redmond, Wash.-based corporation suddenly last November, has signed on to serve as an advisor at Box.

Box CEO Aaron Levie confirmed the news on Thursday, quipping in a statement that the relationship blossomed all thanks to an "unsolicited Facebook message last fall."

Here's more from the colorful yet frank description of their initial talks:

Steven has a stronger and more fluid vision for the future of computing than almost anyone I’ve met. As we kept talking and sometimes meeting over Pho, I realized we had to get him involved with Box.

Highlighting his decades of experience at Microsoft leading the Windows, Office, SkyDrive, and SharePoint teams, Levie noted that Sinofsky's counsel will be applied to further Box’s product and platform strategies and organizations.

Innovations like Google Docs, WhatsApp, Quip and the iPhone have given us a glimpse into a world that’s more synchronous, connected, and mobile. These revolutions are now driving a new era in enterprise software. And ushering an old one out: the desktop is not where people want to work; the server faces economics challenges; and software that needs to installed, managed and learned is no longer acceptable.

Sinofsky's current employment status has been making waves lately.

Just last week it was reported that Sinofsky joined the board of venerable tech venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz as a partner.

Sinofsky had met co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz in late 2012, expressing he was impressed by how the firm focuses on products, innovation, and entrepreneurs with similar interests.

Following the breaking news last Friday that current Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will be stepping down within the next year, there was speculation that Sinofsky might be on the short list to replace him, à la Steve Jobs and his return to Apple years ago.

But as Sinofsky starts moving into multiple roles in Silicon Valley -- notably with a company that has a cloud storage platform going head-to-head with SharePoint and SkyDrive -- such a return to Redmond seems unlikely.

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