Former Xbox COO Addresses Rumors About Leaving the Company
Helen Chiang denied claims about a policy violation and leaks to the press in a LinkedIn post.
Bangla press / Shutterstock.com
Helen Chiang, who left her role as Xbox Chief Operating Officer (COO) after three months, has addressed the rumors about her departure. In a LinkedIn post on November 2, she wrote that she wanted to "set the record straight."
Chiang was appointed to the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer "with end-to-end P&L responsibility across content, hardware, platform, and services" in July. Before that, Chiang had worked at the company for 21 years and previously led Minecraft. At the end of October, only three months after stepping into the role, she unexpectedly left the company.
In the post titled "Clarity is Kindness," she denied claims that she was fired for "a policy violation," which appeared in some reports. She also stated that she did not leak confidential company information to the press. She wrote: "I have never communicated with any journalist outside the limited, company-authorized interviews I've done as part of my job." According to Chiang, this included every journalist who reached out this week seeking her side of the story.
She said she 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."
Chiang didn't reveal the reason for her departure but clarified that she didn't leave Xbox to join a competitor or because she was passed over for a bigger role. "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," Chiang wrote. She also said she hasn't actively sought bigger roles or more responsibility, and the last time she interviewed for a job was in 2011.
Chiang thanked those who support her and explained that she wants to keep everything accurate:
"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."
Chiang closed the post with the following:
"This is not how I ever imagined my story here would end. And it is not the whole story."
Overall, Chiang did not reveal why she left Xbox, but it rejected several claims about it.
Subscribe to our Newsletter, join our 80 Level Talent platform, Discord, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, and Instagram, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.
Are you a fan of what we do here at 80 Level? Then make sure to set us as a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our content in your feed.
Subscribe to 80 Level Newsletters
Latest news, hand-picked articles, and updates
