Others noted that Mr. Liddell had a role in selecting personnel during the transition, an endeavor that has been widely perceived as subpar. Mr. Liddell, a New Zealander by birth, became Microsoft’s chief financial officer in 2005, leading the company through the economic downturn. Mr. Liddell would also bring extensive management experience from his time in politics. During that time, Mr. Liddell revealed few policy preferences with his colleagues, though he was viewed as an effective supervisor. After Mr. Trump’s election in 2016, Mr. Liddell told a New Zealand journalist that “I think the days of unbridled free trade and unbridled free markets are over.”“I worked in the private sector all my life, so I’m a believer in free markets, but not unbridled free markets,” Mr. Liddell said.

Source: New York Times March 10, 2018 20:08 UTC