Leading Analyst Joins Media & Entertainment Group at Microsoft

Katherine Styponias to help Microsoft deliver new digital entertainment

experiences.

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    REDMOND, Wash., June 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp.
 ( MSFT) today announced that Katherine Styponias will join the Media
 & Entertainment Group as general manager, where she will lead the business
 development team working with major content suppliers. Styponias joins
 Microsoft from Prudential Equity Group LLC, where she served as senior vice
 president and the senior cable, entertainment and satellite equity analyst.
 She has relocated from New York to Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash.
     (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO )
     Styponias is widely recognized as an expert in analyzing media industry
 trends and companies. She was named in The Wall Street Journal's "Best on
 the Street" poll for earnings-estimate accuracy and stock picking in the
 entertainment category. She was also recognized in Institutional Investor
 magazine's All-America Research Team poll and was named the No. 1 earnings
 estimator for the media sector in the Forbes.com/StarMine Analysts Awards
 for 2004.
     "I've known Kathy for more than 10 years and have the highest regard
 for her," said Blair Westlake, corporate vice president of the Media &
 Entertainment Group at Microsoft. "Kathy brings to our team an unparalleled
 depth of knowledge and understanding about the entertainment industry that
 will help expand business opportunities for both Microsoft and its
 partners."
     "After 12 years covering developments in entertainment, I'm looking
 forward to turning my knowledge and relationships into opportunity for the
 industry," Styponias said. "This is a time of tremendous change in the way
 entertainment is being delivered, and Microsoft is a great place to
 influence the game."
     Styponias joined Prudential in July 1995, writing and conducting
 research on publicly traded media companies. Before joining Prudential, she
 worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. She graduated with a
 Bachelor of Arts degree in 1988 from Queens College, City University of New
 York, and received her MBA from Columbia Business School at Columbia
 University.
     Styponias is fluent in Greek, enjoys traveling and is an admitted TV
 junkie and nascent gamer.
     Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in
 software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize
 their full potential.
 
 

SOURCE Microsoft Corp.