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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

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Re: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

#91

Post by devx »

bornhuetter wrote: post #76

Good news, this really had to happen. One of Microsoft's biggest problems is one of PR - too many people, particularly in the media have just hated Microsoft for years, and Ballmer is not charismatic enough to ever recover from that position. They need new blood, and to shake off the "old Microsoft" image if they want to win hearts and minds again.

Marketing and PR can only do so much to improve the image of a company or product. That company or product actually has to have great core values or qualities.

Microsoft is forcing OEM's to pay licenses for using open sources operating systems, they're throwing mud against competitors in the media and in social media, and there's still this very real feeling that Microsoft hasn't shaken off the "evil" attitude and culture inside the company.

New pretty colors on its OS and hiring better PR people aren't going to help with that. The company need to change from the inside-out, not outside-in.

Re: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

#92

Post by mathattack »

sz4kerto wrote: post #80

Paul Thurrot's comment: "On a personal note, I'll just add that Ballmer was one of the good guys. Though he was relentlessly mocked for his over-the-top public appearances in years past, Ballmer was also relentlessly pro-Microsoft and it's very clear that the troubles of the past decade were at least in part not of his making: Ballmer inherited a Microsoft that had been driven into an antitrust quagmire by Mr. Gates,…

"While many called for his ouster for many years, I never saw a single leader emerge at Microsoft who could fill his shoes or the needs of this lofty position. Looking at the available options today, I still don't."

This in and of itself is a failure of leadership. If you can't groom a leader to replace you in 15 years, that's a problem. Some could argue it's deliberate (defending their job) others might argue that he just didn't have it in him to make it a priority. The board should have insisted. I would argue that our last 2 presidents, and the current mayor of NYC have made the same problem.

Re: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

#94

Post by fauigerzigerk »

lbarrow wrote: post #23

He'll be remembered as a terrible CEO. Ballmer took over as CEO in 2000. In the 13 years since then, Apple has experienced an unprecedented resurgence. Google and Facebook have gone from being obscure startups to giants. The tech industry went through the bubble, recovered, and today is stronger than ever. What happened to Microsoft? While the rest of the tech sector exploded and prospered, it stayed still. A MSFT sh…

I agree that he will probably not be remembered for having more than doubled revenue and almost tripled profits. He will not be remembered for transforming Microsoft into one of the most important enterprise software companies. Not for introducing .NET, C# or Kinect either. All of that will be forgotten.

He will be remembered for missing mobile. He will also be remembered for caring a lot about developers and about developers and about developers as well. The VB6 folks will still hate him ;-)

Re: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

#95

Post by gmacdon89 »

Ensorceled wrote: post #70
benihana wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Positives: Xbox/Games division

One almost gets the impression that Xbox slipped under Ballmer's radar and didn't get his full attention :-)

I loled. I have thought this as well. something along the lines of he was concentrating on office when a division of microsoft was able to continue working without his interruption.

Re: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

#96

Post by facorreia »

kjhughes wrote: post #61

What were the key Ballmer era highlights? == Negatives == * Clashes with Gates during CEO transition of power: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121261241035146237.html * Developer relations / motivational speaking (thanks mathattack): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvsboPUjrGc * Employee retention (thanks JonnieCache, Ziomislaw): http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/microsoft-ceo-im-going... * Windows Phone: http://…

Xbox.

Server and tools (e.g. System Center 2012 R2, Windows Azure).

Increasing profits. E.g., FY 13 profits of $26.76 billion against FY 12 profits of $21.76 billion. That 5 billion dollars of additional profit in that fiscal year. I wonder how much profit Ballmer's detractors generate?

Relevant: How Apple's profits stack up against Google and Microsoft

http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/23/4549094/apple-microsoft-go...

Re: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

#97

Post by bornhuetter »

mathattack wrote: post #65
lee wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure your description of Beta is accurate. Correctly if I'm wrong, but Beta is a measure of volatility in correlation with the broader market, not a measure of volatility in of itself. There are plenty of stocks that have beta Having a low beta simply means its price isn't as correlated with the overall market. An example, Netflix has a beta < 1 but is extremely volatile.

You are correct in your definition. I thought that's how I explained it. Beta is volatility relative to the entire market. That's why I said "less volatile to market conditions than an index fund" Basically if the market has a big day, it will move up less than the whole market. Similarly on a down day. I think for both Netflix and Microsoft it's because they have strong brands and recurring revenue streams. They are…

Your definition and use of the term are correct.

Re: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

#98

Post by gregd »

Delmania wrote: post #63

I think Ballmer is an interesting case study in perception versus results. He's commonly portrayed as a poor CEO that has led Microsoft in the direction of irrelevance. And yet, to quote oft critic Gruber, "he knows how to make money" ( http://daringfireball.net/linked/2013/04/19/msft-q3 ) I'd love to sit down and talk to him, and see if his vision is a bit more long range than your average industry analyst, similar…

I would argue that Gruber is wrong. Microsoft would have made money during it's Ballmer years, regardless of who was at the helm. When Gates left, MS was a Katamari ball rolling down hill, catching all the money in it's path.

Re: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

#99

Post by prawks »

the_bear wrote: post #54
anuragramdasan wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ballmer has always lacked the ability to see the future. Be it about him calling Zune the iPhone killer, or much prior to that claiming it in the media that no one would ever wan tto buy an iPhone. Also, really below par products.

To be fair, one of the greatest "see the future" CEOs has said similar things. Just off the top of my head, I know that Steve Jobs said that no one would want a larger screen than the original iPhone had, and he said that 7" tablets didn't make any sense. Now Apple has a larger iPhone screen and 7" tablet. That's not to say that Steve Jobs was wrong about the future, but he had to sell devices in the present which me…

Also don't forget Apple has had it's share of failures under Jobs (MobileMe, arguably AppleTV, their desktop peripherals always sucked, plenty of failed products, etc.).

Re: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

#100

Post by smackfu »

chollida1 wrote: post #44
smackfu wrote: post #26

If you think about it, what does the "within 12 months" part even mean? Like, if the deadline hits, they'll just take whoever they can get?

> If you think about it, what does the "within 12 months" part even mean? I'm not sure what part about that is confusing. In case you are ESL it means that Ballmer will retire before one year has elapsed. > Like, if the deadline hits, they'll just take whoever they can get? Running one of the largest, profitable and most prestigious companies in the world is a pretty good job. I'm pretty certain that there will be no…

I mean, a much more common way to do this is something like "has informed the company of his intention to retire as soon as a successor is announced." Or "announced he will retire at the end of the year and that the company’s board of directors has approved the promotion of X to CEO."

Throwing a deadline in there is just odd.

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