Microsoft says it had appointed Mason Morfit, the president of activist investment firm ValueAct Capital, to its board of directors.

ValueAct Capital was initially formed in June 2000 to manage the capital of its founders, along with the capital of a limited number of outside investors, in an investment strategy that combines intensive due diligence, a concentrated number of investments, and active, constructive involvement in the value creation at those investments. Today, with offices in San Francisco and Boston, ValueAct Capital manages more than $14 billion on behalf of some of the world's most respected institutional and individual investors.