Robert J. Bach

Robert J. Bach, commonly known as Robbie Bach, is the President of Entertainment & Devices Division at Microsoft. He leads the division that is responsible for the Xbox, Xbox 360, Zune, , Windows Mobile and the Microsoft TV platform.

Biography

Robbie Bach was born in Peoria, Ill on December 31, 1961 and is the son of a former Schlitz Brewing executive. A gifted scholar and athlete, he played competitive tennis at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Scholar. After graduating with a degree in economics, he worked at Morgan Stanley before going on to receive an MBA from Stanford. He joined Microsoft in 1988 and has been with them ever since. He is married with 3 children and comes from a tremendously athletic family: brother Tom ran track at Northwestern and was an All-American; brother Peter played tennis at USC; nephew Justin played tennis for UVA; A nephew, Brian, played baseball at Wake Forest; and another nephew, Matt, played football for Furman. He most recently was profiled in the San Francisco Chronicle, where he discussed the Microsoft ZUNE and its prospects in the digital music space going forward.

Microsoft career

Robbie Bach has overseen some of Microsoft's most successful projects.

Microsoft Office

As the top marketing executive in charge of Microsoft Office during the 1990s Bach battled against Corel and Lotus when they had 80% market share to Microsoft's 20%. Microsoft Office suite is now Microsoft's second most profitable product suite garnering billions in revenue.

Microsoft Europe

From 1990 to 1992, Bach served as the business operations manager for Microsoft Europe, reporting to the president of Microsoft Europe in Paris, where he coordinated business planning and strategy, budgeting, and special projects. He helped unify Microsoft's once-divided European local units. Interestingly enough, he could often be found flying around Europe in the Back part of Coach Class with Bill Gates. Ironically enough, both Bach and Gates now fly around on their own private jets.

Chief Xbox Officer

Bach was the top executive in charge of Microsoft's gaming consoles Xbox and Xbox 360. Under Bach's leadership Xbox passed Nintendo's GameCube as the #1 gaming platform.

Zune

Bach is now leading the charge against Apple Computer's iPod with Microsoft's Zune.

Microsoft titles

* Product Manager(Microsoft Works)
* Business Operations Manager(Europe)
* Vice President of Marketing(Desktop Applications Division)
* Vice President of the Learning(Entertainment and Productivity Division)
* Vice President of the Home and Retail division
* Senior Vice President of Home and Entertainment Division
* President of the Entertainment and Devices Division

Net worth

Currently has 542,578 shares of Microsoft Stock, at a net worth of $16,167,793.50.

Boys and Girls Club

Bach sits on the board of governors for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and is the interim chairman of the Entertainment Software Association.

External links

* [http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/rbach/default.mspx Robert J. Bach's bio page at Microsoft PressPass]
* [http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/12/xbox-360-exec-robbie-bachs-personal-red-ring-of-death-insider/ Insider Trading]
* [http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9956880-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20/ Microsoft's Robbie Bach 'thought about killing' Surface - June 2, 2008]