News From Microsoft's Soon-To-Be-Metaverse

On Tuesday's annual general meeting, shareholders voted for Microsoft Inc MSFT to publish a report on the effectiveness of its workplace sexual harassment policies in what was a rare win for activists two decades after the board's investigation into co-founder Bill Gates' activities. The board's recommendation was to reject the proposal, but it ended up being supported by 77.97% votes, as shown by a regulatory filing.

To protect its reputation and shareholder value, Microsoft made an effort with the rise of the MeToo movement with some employees speaking out about experiencing harassment at the company but activists believe the tech titan hasn't done enough. The software and hardware maker will now need to provide details of its investigations, including that of Gates, as well as the number of cases it has looked into and their outcome.

A First Step Into the Metaverse

Microsoft is also taking on Facebook that has now been renamed Meta Platforms Inc FB by bringing its own version of the metaverse to office life.
The US software giant said that in the first half of next year, Teams users would be able to appear as avatars or animated cartoons in other words. Besides attending virtual meetings, remote workers will also be able to use their avatars to visit their virtual offices. Microsoft's first step in the new digital universe might seem modest compared to the ambitious vision that Facebook laid out but management sees the adoption of personal avatars as the first step for workers to become comfortable with new forms of virtual interaction.

With 250 million people around the world using Teams, the introduction of avatars is the first element of the metaverse that will make the story real, according to Jared Spataro, the head of the software app. With the help of AI, the avatar's lips will appear to mouth the words being spoken. Facial expressions and hand gestures will also be in the picture.

Microsoft's plan is on Mesh technology it unveiled earlier this year to handle complex virtual interactions using PCs to VR headsets.

Following on Musk's Footsteps

Like the CEO of Tesla Inc TSLA, Microsoft's chairman and CEO Satya Nadella has shed more than half of the shares of the company he's running. According to an SEC filing, Nadella sold 840,000 Microsoft shares just before Thanksgiving, with proceeds amounting to $285 million. Microsoft has been having a fantastic year with its rock skyrocketing more than 50% with the only Dow Jones stock doing better being Home Depot HD.

The tech titan even overpassed Apple AAPL in value with Nadella at the helm so it is only natural that he has been well compensated for his successful leadership. This fiscal year alone, his salary amounted to $2.5 million along with his total annual compensation package, which includes stock awards and cash incentives, which add up to nearly $50 million. Over the past two fiscal years, Nadella earned more than $40 million. Nadella still owns more than 830,000 shares which are significantly greater than the requirements set by the company's Board of Directors.

Microsoft is having great earnings and revenue run thanks to the cloud leadership position Nadella helped it gain since he took over as CEO in 2014. The company's exceeded $2.5 trillion as it fueled up its Azure cloud unit while core Office 365 suite, LinkedIn corporate social networking unit, and Xbox gaming division continue doing a great job at bringing in revenue. Microsoft is knocking on the door of a $3 trillion market cap club as it builds its own metaverse and hopefully, a more transparent and accountable company culture.

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