If Microsoft
After a decade at Yahoo!, where he ended up running the search and advertising technology group, as well as a short but productive stint as an IBM
Lu's work and self-effacing work ethic made him a "rock star" in the Yahoo! ethos. He left a deep imprint on important services like Yahoo! Maps and Local, and he was instrumental to the acquisition of social bookmarking site Del.icio.us and photo-hosting leader Flickr. Dr. Lu has been granted 20 patents in fields as diverse as music search by examples, gaze-based secure keypads, and 3-D user interfaces. Cool stuff all around.
In short, he's smart and humble, and he has the technical skills to impress Redmond's engineers, combined with the human touch that made him a success in Southern California.
If Microsoft really is serious about just snagging the best and the brightest from Yahoo! without a multibillion-dollar deal, it just got started on exactly the right foot. Lu is highly qualified for his new job as president of the Online Services Group, and he's the type of talent who could very well inspire other top techies to join the cause.
Steve Ballmer and his Redmond cohorts don't get the Yahoo! brand name or its massive user base this way, but Lu's addition is an instant upgrade and a good start. Hey, even Google
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