Former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop is leaving Microsoft as part of a fresh reorganization. "We are aligning our engineering efforts and capabilities to deliver on our strategy and, in particular, our three core ambitions," says Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in an email to employees today. "This change will enable us to deliver better products and services that our customers love at a more rapid pace."

Elop will leave Microsoft as part of the reorg, and "after a designated transition period." Elop had been responsible for Microsoft's Lumia devices after rejoining the software company following its acquisition of the Nokia phone business last year. Microsoft is currently working on new Lumia devices for the fall, alongside a release of Windows 10 Mobile. "Stephen and I have agreed that now is the right time for him to retire from Microsoft," says Nadella. "I regret the loss of leadership that this represents, and look forward to seeing where his next destination will be."

The man behind Scroogled is leaving Microsoft

Another key departure sees Mark Penn leave Microsoft in September. Penn was the main driving force behind Microsoft's highly criticized Scroogled campaign. Penn says he is leaving Microsoft to form a private equity fund, but his departure could see him rejoin the political world ahead of the the upcoming presidential campaigns. Alongside Elop and Penn, Microsoft executives Kirill Tatarinov and Eric Rudder will also leave as part of a transition period. Tatarinov used to head up Microsoft's business solutions group, and Ruder was responsible for the company's advanced strategy.

Microsoft’s reorg will see Windows chief Terry Myerson take on more responsibility. Myerson will take over a new team called the Windows and Devices Group. He will be focused on Microsoft devices and the engineering of Windows. Scott Guthrie will continue to lead the cloud and enterprise teams, and Qi Lu will still manage the applications and services group at Microsoft.

Verge Video: Three big things from Microsoft's E3