Sarah Bond (executive)

Sarah Bond
Born	1978 (age 46–47) Morristown, New Jersey, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	Yale University (BA) Harvard Business School (MBA)
Employer	Microsoft Gaming (2017–present)
Title	President of Xbox
Awards	VentureBeat Visionary Award (2022)

Sarah Bond is an American business executive and the current president of Xbox, at Microsoft overseeing the entire brand's operations as a platform and ecosystem, including hardware and devices, player and creator experiences, platform engineering, strategy, business planning, data and analytics, and business development and partnerships. ^[1]

Early life

Bond was born in Morristown, New Jersey, in October 1978, and is one of seven siblings. Her father was a telecom CEO, and her mother worked in technology at AT&T before transitioning to philanthropy. ^[2] Bond spent part of her childhood overseas, living in the United Kingdom for ten years for her education before returning to the United States. ^{[3] [4]} She is an Economics graduate from Yale University and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. ^{[5] [6]}

Career

Bond commenced her career as an associate partner at McKinsey & Company. ^[7] Transitioning to T-Mobile, she held key roles, including chief of staff to CEO John Legere and later senior vice president of corporate strategy and development. ^[6]

In 2017, Bond joined Microsoft, starting as a corporate vice president overseeing gaming business development and partnerships at Xbox. She later assumed the position of corporate vice president of game creator experience and ecosystem. ^{[8] [6]} Bond played a pivotal role representing Microsoft during the scrutinized bid to acquire Activision Blizzard, including testifying at the 2022 FTC v. Microsoft trial. ^{[9] [10]}

In 2022, she received Visionary Award from GamesBeat for her contributions to the industry. ^[11] On October 26, 2023, Bond was promoted to president of Xbox, reporting directly to Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer. ^[12]

Beyond Microsoft, Bond serves on the boards of organizations such as Zuora, Chegg, and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). ^{[13] [14] [15]}

References

1. Warren, Tom (2023-10-26). "Read Phil Spencer's full Microsoft memo on the new Xbox leadership changes". The Verge. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
2. "Interview with Sarah Bond". Archives IT. Retrieved 6 Sep 2024.
3. "Next Level: How Sarah Bond (MBA 2006) is taking on the culture—and the future success—of the gaming industry". Harvard Business School Alumni.
4. Exclusive: Sarah Bond Talks What's Coming Up For Xbox in 2023 , retrieved 2023-11-09
5. "Sarah Bond". Variety. 2020-12-22. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
6. "Sarah Bond". Archives of IT. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
7. "Speaker Details Page". DICE Summit. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
8. "Sarah Bond". Black Entrepreneur & Executives Profiles. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
9. Plant, Logan (June 22, 2023). "Sarah Bond: Xbox Cloud Is Game Pass Ultimate's Least Popular Feature, Says Service Running at a Loss". IGN. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
10. Ivan, Tom (June 23, 2023). "Xbox claims Activision demanded a bigger revenue share to put Call of Duty on Series X/S". Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
11. Takahashi, Dean (April 27, 2022). "Visionary Awards honor Microsoft's Sarah Bond and Arkane's Dinga Bakaba". VentureBeat. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
12. Nwanji, Ngozi (November 1, 2023). "Microsoft Appoints Sarah Bond As The New President Of Xbox, Making Her The First Black Woman In The Role At A Major Gaming Company". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
13. Crowley, Kinsey (June 9, 2023). "These women could be the next Fortune 500 CEOs". Fortune. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
14. "Chegg Appoints Sarah Bond to Board of Directors". Chegg. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
15. "FUTURE of XBOX & The Metaverse: Sarah Bond". YouTube. Retrieved November 7, 2023.

External links

• Game on: An interview with Microsoft’s head of gaming ecosystem, McKinsey & Company January 6, 2022