--- description: Whitten's leaving Microsoft for a similar position with Sonos. title: Xbox Exec Marc Whitten Leaving Microsoft for Sonos image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cfe45af3f798baa/698685e8cd804d9368cc9c77/marc-whitten-xbox.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Marc Whitten, Xbox Exec for 14 Years, Is Bidding Microsoft Adieu by [Matt Peckham](/author/matt-peckham/) ## Matt Peckham Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 18, 2014 1:15 AM CUT  Marc Whitten, the head of Xbox Live, demonstrates the new Xbox feature, Xbox SmartGlass, a wireless tablet controller at the Microsoft Xbox news briefing during the E3 game expo in Los Angeles, California June 4, 2012. Marc Whitten, the head of Xbox Live, demonstrates the new Xbox feature, Xbox SmartGlass, a wireless tablet controller at the Microsoft Xbox news briefing during the E3 game expo in Los Angeles, California June 4, 2012.Fred Prouser / Reuters by [Matt Peckham](/author/matt-peckham/) ## Matt Peckham Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 18, 2014 1:15 AM CUT In a late Monday afternoon note, the Xbox Wire blog [dropped a surprise](http://news.xbox.com/2014/03/games-marc-whitten "undefined"): Marc Whitten, Chief Product Officer of Xbox, is leaving the company for the same position (CPO) with wireless audio maven Sonos. Whitten had been with Microsoft for nearly a decade-and-a-half, joining the company in 2000 and helping usher in the Xbox platform as well as both of its successors, the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Xbox Wire calls the news “sad to share” before rolling out the plaudits for Xbox’s ex-CPO. Here’s Whitten: --- > “” --- Xbox Wire says the Xbox leadership team will remain as-is, temporarily reporting to Terry Myserson, an executive VP responsible for “the teams building the software platform and experiences for Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox.” Myerson says he’ll work with VP of marketing and strategy Yusuf Mehdi and Microsoft Studios head Phil Spencer to find a replacement for Whitten. Whitten isn’t abandoning ship entirely: according to Xbox Wire, “You can continue to play with Marc on Xbox Live under the gamertag notwen.” And here’s Whitten a little over an hour ago on Twitter, wishing everyone well. > [](https://twitter.com/notwen/status/445705656272556032) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/28197/marc-whitten-xbox-exec-for-14-years-is-bidding-microsoft-adieu/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/28197/marc-whitten-xbox-exec-for-14-years-is-bidding-microsoft-adieu/"},"headline":"Marc Whitten, Xbox Exec for 14 Years, Is Bidding Microsoft Adieu","datePublished":"2014-03-18T01:15:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:01:45.203Z","description":"Whitten's leaving Microsoft for a similar position with Sonos.","url":"https://time.com/28197/marc-whitten-xbox-exec-for-14-years-is-bidding-microsoft-adieu/","keywords":["Tech","Video Games","Microsoft","xbox"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cfe45af3f798baa/698685e8cd804d9368cc9c77/marc-whitten-xbox.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Matt Peckham","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/matt-peckham/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cfe45af3f798baa/698685e8cd804d9368cc9c77/marc-whitten-xbox.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Whitten, head of Xbox Live, demonstrates new XBox feature XBox SmartGlass, at Microsoft XBox news briefing during E3 game expo in Los Angeles","caption":"Whitten, head of Xbox Live, demonstrates new XBox feature XBox SmartGlass, at Microsoft XBox news briefing during E3 game expo in Los Angeles","creditText":"Fred Prouser / Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/28197/marc-whitten-xbox-exec-for-14-years-is-bidding-microsoft-adieu/","name":"Marc Whitten, Xbox Exec for 14 Years, Is Bidding Microsoft Adieu"}}]}] ```