Christopher Young, executive vice-president of business development at US-listed software provider Microsoft since November 2020, has not stepped in to run its corporate venturing unit, the company said. Microsoft said there was no news to report on the leadership right now.
This follows the departure of Nagraj Kashyap as head of M12 to become a managing partner at Japan-listed internet conglomerate SoftBank’s Vision Funds last month.
Kashyap said in his LinkedIn post: “I am confident that the amazing team I am leaving behind will take M12 to new heights under Christopher Young’s leadership.”
In the five years since M12 was launched, it has made 100 investments with 15 exits, including one initial public offering (IPO), Kashyap said. He added that five of its portfolio companies had reached valuations of at least $1bn – so-called unicorn status – and M12 had held two female founder competitions.
Young had previously been CEO of software security developer McAfee for nearly three years after stints running the security divisions of Intel, Cisco, VMware, RSA and AOL.
Photo of Christopher Young courtesy of LinkedIn.
Editor note: The original heading, Young to replace Kashyap at M12, and opening paragraph was changed as Microsoft said there was no news on the M12 post and Young was not leading M12 now, although the corporate venturing unit sits under his organisational hierarchy, the company confirmed. We are happy to update.
