Microsoft's ex-Windows boss Terry Myerson is taking two new jobs with investment firms after spending six months relaxing his brain's 'cadence' by training for a triathlon

Terry Myerson

Former Microsoft executive Terry Myerson has resurfaced six-months after leaving the company by announcing his new career as an investor.
He's joining two investment firms, he said in a post on LinkedIn.
He looks fit and sounds happy and relaxed: not what he was known for while he was at Microsoft.

Former Microsoft executive Terry Myerson has resurfaced from a seven-month hiatus by announcing his new career as an investor. And he's working two jobs to do it.

Myerson is joining Madrona, a prominent Pacific Northwest VC most famous for backing Amazon. Others in its portfolio include Redfin and Snowflake (the latter is a hot enterprise storage startup run by former 'softie Bob Muglia).

Myerson is also joining private equity firm the Carlyle Group. Carlyle was where former Intel exec Renee James landed after she left Intel. Carlyle eventually helped her finance her own chip startup, Ampere. James raved about Carlyle to Myerson, he wrote. They knew each other from their days working as partners on Windows and Intel (a partnership so famous, it had its own couples name: Wintel).

Both gigs are part-time positions, he said in a post on LinkedIn.

Rather than choosing between jobs, he talked them into creating roles for him at both. They play at opposite ends of the investment spectrum with Madrona making early bets and Carlyle in late, so he views his jobs as complementary, not competitive.

He spent his time off training for a triathlon that relaxed the 'cadence' in his brain

Myerson was a somewhat controversial figure at Microsoft. He joined when Microsoft, still run by Bill Gates in those days, bought his startup. He became a powerful exec who worked his way up the ranks over 22 years by running the Exchange email product, Windows Phone and finally Windows. He was known as an astute politician and a tough and demanding boss during the Gates and Ballmer years, when all of Microsoft was political and tough.

Ultimately, he left Microsoft during one of Nadella's reorganizations, when the company split his Windows group into two, writing a heartfelt good-bye memo to the troops. In the memo, he said he planned to train for a big race, learn to play an instrument, and spend more time with his family.

The tone of Tuesday's LinkedIn post is happy, and he looks fit and trim in the pictures he posted in it. That's a big change from the big guy he was at Microsoft.

During his time off, to his own amazement, he even completed a half Ironman triathlon.

"The hours of training helped reset the impulses in my brain to a more relaxed cadence (probably akin to doing several hours of meditation per day). After having gotten so out of shape during the peak intensity of my Microsoft years, it felt amazing to complete this race in seven hours. I know, it’s hard to believe even for me," he writes.

He also joined the board at Duke and is working with a non-profit. And he hasn't ruled out another full-time role. He simply said he wasn't ready for one yet.

Myerson did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.

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