Jon Shirley

Who is Jon Shirley?

Jon A. Shirley was president of Microsoft from 1983 through 1990, and a director until 2008.

Shirley was born in San Diego, California. He attended The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Shirley started at Tandy Corporation in 1958, holding various positions in sales, merchandising, manufacturing, and international operations. He left Tandy as vice president of computer merchandising in 1983, to become president, chief operating officer, and director of Microsoft.

He was later mentioned in press accounts for refusing to upgrade his second computer to Windows Vista after upgrading his first.

He and his late wife Mary collected the artworks of Alexander Calder among many others. Their collection is now on view at the Seattle Art Museum.