Helen Chiang Responds to Reports on Why She Left Xbox

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Jesse Norris

49 seconds ago

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Helen Chiang, former COO of Xbox, has taken to LinkedIn to push back against reports on why she left the organization.

Helen Chiang, former head of Minecraft and the first COO of Xbox, has taken to LinkedIn to push back against reporting by both Eurogamer and Tom Warren of The Verge about why she is no longer with Xbox.

In the post, quoted in full below, Mrs. Chiang titles the post ‘Clarity is Kindness’, a phrase attributed to Xbox CEO Asha Sharma in one of her many interviews since taking over for Phil Spencer back in February.

Helen Chiang was named the first COO of Xbox back in July, a position she states in her post that she did not ask for. This came during the ‘Xbox Reset’ as Sharma has titled it, where Xbox stated a desire to layoff 3200 employees while divesting from numerous studios.

Here is Helen Chian’s statment in full:

Clarity is Kindness

There has been some speculation about my abrupt departure from Microsoft, including claims that I was “fired for a policy violation”. That’s not accurate and while I won’t turn this into a play-by-play, silence should not be mistaken for agreement. What has been said about my departure, and what has been left unsaid, has created a picture of me that I hardly recognize. It’s important to me to set the record straight.

First, I did not leak confidential company information to the press. I have never communicated with any journalist outside the limited, company-authorized interviews I’ve done as part of my job. That includes every journalist who reached out this week seeking my side of the story.

Second, I did not leave XBOX to join a competitor. You don’t spend two decades somewhere without developing a deep loyalty to the people, teams, and businesses you’ve helped build. XBOX was never just another stop in my career. My end game was always to keep building here.

Third, I did not engage in discrimination, bullying, harassment, insider trading, embezzlement, or other fraudulent activity. I stand by my record: both the results I delivered and the way I have treated people throughout my career. I won’t let speculation define my character or erase that record.

Lastly, I did not leave because I was passed over for a bigger role. Since having children, I’ve been intentional about how I define ambition and success. I haven’t actively sought out bigger roles or increased responsibilities, and the last time I interviewed for a job was in 2011. My reputation and results paved the way for the opportunities that followed. I went where the company believed I was needed and where I could have the greatest impact. I did not ask for my most recent role, either. I was promoted into it in July.

I believe in fairness, accountability, and holding ourselves to the standards we expect of others. Those standards only mean something when they’re applied consistently. I have serious concerns about how they were applied in my case, and I believe those concerns deserve to be taken seriously.

I share this because I don’t want my departure reduced to an inaccurate story about incompetence, ambition for the next big job, or a Nelson-level scandal. My story is about staying true to your core values, especially when it is hard. That’s the legacy I hope to leave behind.

To everyone who has reached out with hugs, love, and support: thank you. So many of you have reminded me of the wonderful times we’ve shared over the past 20 years and the impact we’ve had on one another. Some of you I haven’t been in touch with for several years, yet you still took the time to check on me. Others are people I’ve never even met, but you reached out anyway. That speaks volumes about the care and humanity in our industry and the connections that transcend where we work.

This is not how I ever imagined my story here would end. And it is not the whole story.

Helen Chiang on Linkedin

It has been an interesting saga, as Xbox continuously looks for ‘easy wins’ on social media. The organization continues to go through massive changes with hundreds of layoffs still in the pipeline per their own numbers.

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