DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) on Thursday added Stephen J. Luczo, the chairman and chief executive of hard-drive maker Seagate Technology PLC (STX) as its newest director. The software giant also said current director John Thompson, chief executive of privately held Vitrual Instruments, will replace Netflix Inc. (NFLX) Chief Executive Reed Hastings on the board's compensation committee, while naming Luczo to its audit committee. Luczo, 55 years old, has served on Seagate's board since 2000. He was named chairman of the company in 2002 and has held the president and CEO positions since 2009. Microsoft has been expanding its footprint into a variety of sectors over the past year as the line between the software and hardware sectors becomes increasingly blurry. The company most recently paid 300 million for a 17.6% stake in Barnes & Noble's Inc. (BKS) Nook digital-reader business and its college-bookstore business. Seagate has benefited this year as pent-up demand pushes up prices for its hard drives. Severe flooding in Thailand knocked out a significant amount of the world's production capacity, though Seagate was relatively unscathed. Microsoft shares were recently off 11 cents at $31.69 Thursday, while Seagate was down 3.7% at $31.02 amid a broad market downturn. -By Drew FitzGerald, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2909; Andrew.FitzGerald@dowjones.com
