Microsoft is confronting a new wave of antitrust investigations over allegations of illegally monopolizing the cloud services and software market. In preparation for this legal battle, the company is reorganizing its senior leadership within the legal and policy departments.
Over the past year, Microsoft has reassigned at least four senior executives to new roles within the legal team led by President Brad Smith. These teams are responsible for addressing antitrust regulation. A newly revealed organizational chart provides the first look at the core leadership overseeing the company's antitrust strategy since it successfully defended against the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) lawsuit concerning its $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard less than three years ago.
The team of policy experts currently leading the legal department is formulating Microsoft's response to the FTC's investigation into its cloud services and software business—a segment that generated over $226 billion in revenue last year—while also handling regulatory inquiries from other countries. In the United States, the FTC has, within the last month, contacted other companies to inquire whether Microsoft's practice of bundling cloud software like Office, Windows, and AI Copilot is hindering customers from using competing products.
Microsoft has assembled a team of lawyers and policy experts with antitrust enforcement experience, including former regulators, to manage the investigations. The team includes former FTC advisers, Department of Justice officials, and European Union regulators. The composition of this legal team had not been previously reported.
It remains unclear whether the FTC's probe will lead to a formal antitrust lawsuit. Companies in contact with the FTC anticipate the agency will complete its investigation in the coming months, with a commission vote to decide on recommending enforcement action. Both Microsoft and the FTC declined to comment on the progress of the investigation.
Microsoft also faces similar antitrust actions globally, including in Australia, the European Union, and the United Kingdom. The UK's top antitrust regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), ruled last summer that Microsoft and its cloud rival Amazon hold an unfair advantage in the cloud computing market. The CMA indicated it would decide this year whether to impose corrective measures on the two companies. The EU's antitrust chief has also recently queried AI startups, including OpenAI, about whether tech giants like Microsoft are suppressing competition in the AI market.
Reporting to President Brad Smith, the overall head of the legal department is Jonathan Palmer, Microsoft's most senior legal officer. A 15-year veteran of the company, Palmer assumed the role in September 2025 after his predecessor, Husain Nowwar, left to become Chief Legal Officer at ServiceNow. Palmer oversees litigation, compliance, and other legal matters including immigration, employment, and intellectual property.
Reporting to Palmer and leading Microsoft's antitrust legal team is Nicholas Banasevic, Head of Competition and Market Regulation. Before joining Microsoft, Banasevic spent over 25 years at the European Commission, leading the EU's antitrust enforcement against tech companies from 2012 to 2021.
Banasevic took over Microsoft's antitrust unit last year after Rima Alaily, the former Deputy General Counsel who led the defense against the FTC's Activision Blizzard lawsuit, was reassigned to lead legal matters related to data center construction.
Reporting to Banasevic are Deputy General Counsel David Snyder, a senior Microsoft lawyer, and his deputies, Randy Long and Erin Craig, who handle the company's responses to the FTC and other regulators. Long previously spent over 12 years at the FTC's Bureau of Competition, later serving as legal counsel to then-FTC Chair Deborah Majoras and as Assistant Director of the Mergers Division. Craig has served as a lawyer at both the Department of Justice and the FTC.
The legal department led by Palmer is also involved in shaping Microsoft's legal strategy regarding the recent Pentagon-Anthropic dispute. Microsoft stated last Friday that its legal team had thoroughly reviewed the Pentagon's designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk and determined that the designation does not require Microsoft to sever all commercial ties with Anthropic to avoid using the AI lab's technology in software sold to the military.
Beyond antitrust matters, another unit under Palmer's purview that develops regulatory response strategies is the Compliance & Ethics department, which ensures Microsoft adheres to laws and regulations worldwide. This department is led by Christopher Nelson, a Vice President and 15-year Microsoft lawyer.
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