To: Microsoft hardware department

From: Chase Moeller

Date: July 29, 2021

Subject: The use of immorally obtained gold in our products.

To start this e-mail, I’d first like to congratulate everyone on the growing success of our hardware
products. Everyone on the team should be proud of our high-quality Surface and Xbox products.
However, the primary reason for this e-mail is to bring attention to an issue with part of our supply chain
going against our company ethos. I’m certain everyone will recognize the importance of this issue as
everyone at this company does a great job upholding our brand values. The supply chain issues I’m
referring to is the use of immorally obtained gold in our Surface and Xbox products. All our first party
hardware such as our laptops, tablets, and gaming consoles use components that are made from gold
mined using exploitative methods. Both people and the environment are being exploited, often illegally,
in order to cheaply mine gold which is then used by our factories. This exploitation can include
deforestation and mercury poisoning. Our products containing such materials is clearly against our
company ethos and can even lead to potential public image issues in the future.

The only clear solution is to change our supply chain to cut out immorally obtained gold. A potential area
we can use to fill the gap in our supply is to switch to gold obtained via recycling. This will clearly be
more expensive, but the growing surplus of electronic waste will ensure a steady and abundant supply
of the gold we need. Although the switch will raise the price of our products, the avoidance of public
relations issues will be worth the shift from a financial standpoint, as protecting the brand image is most
important. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me through my work e-mail. I
will usally reply to e-mails by the end of the next workday. Alternatively, if you would like to video call,
send me a message on Microsoft Teams with your availability and we can arrange meeting.

Sincerely,

Chase Moeller

ChaseMoe@microsoft.com

704-369-2567