“Last time CEO Steve Ballmer offered a tentative timeframe as to when he might retire from Microsoft, he put the date at ten years or so from now (around the time his youngest goes to college),” Mary-Jo Foley reports for ZDNet.
MacDailyNews Note: Related article: Microsoft CEO Ballmer: I’m outta here in 9 or 10 years; as soon as my last kid goes away to college – June 05, 2008
Foley continues, “But now there’s a new date. And Ballmer may be sticking around a lot longer than many are thinking, or, in some cases, hoping.”
Foley reports, “According to scuttlebutt from Microsoft’s annual employee meeting, which was held in Seattle on September 18, Ballmer told attendees that he is going to stay on at Microsoft until Microsoft’s search share exceeds Google’s.”
“In August, Google’s U.S. search share rose 1.1 percent over the previous month’s. Yahoo’s dropped .9 percent to 20.5 percent and Microsoft’s dropped .6 percent, to 8.9 percent,” Foley reports.
MacDailyNews Note: FYI: Google’s share rose 1.1% from 61.9% to 63%. We’re sure that Microsoft sycophant Foley just made an honest mistake, but using the link Foley herself provided, Microsoft dropped 0.6% from 8.9% to 8.3%. Likewise, Yahoo dropped 0.9% from 20.5% to 19.6%. So, for Microsoft and Yahoo, it’s even worse than Foley describes.
Foley continues, “Unless Microsoft can somehow reverse this trend, Ballmer may be around a long, long time…”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Sketchtrain” for the heads up.]
Ballmer’s going to need an embalmer long before Microsoft’s search share exceeds Google’s (ie. never).
If he left M$ would he be qualified to do anything at all?
Throwing his turds at zoo visitors comes to mind.
That photo of Balmer!!! ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!
Please post a larger version – I want to laugh even louder!
Is today a great day or what!
If I ever get “emBallmered” please grab a pry-bar or liposuction him off of me. Then euthanize me so I don’t have to ever remember.
At least the HP board was smart enough to get rid of Carly…
It might be easier for Ballmer to achieve immortality.
He has children? Wow, I guess money really can buy love and sex.
What? You wanna get rid of Balmer and bring in someone who can really, truly innovate?
@IDon’t
“He has children? Wow, I guess money really can buy love and sex.”
Who said anything about love?
Nobody cares when Steve Balmer retires—except for Microsoft employees and shareholders, that is. When you make a pact with the Devil, you gots to give the Devil his due.
http://gizmodo.com/5052680/steve-ballmer-goes-nuts-again-to-sell-windows
Ok, so ballmer is a nutjob? Can I switch to Windows please???
seriously, if Ballmer loves this company, why does he want to hurt it so much
Mike
Amazing how Foley botches the numbers. You’d almost think she did it on purpose! Of course she did.
ballmer is apple’s unintentional trojan horse
he’s going to destroy it from within
heil ballmer !
Ballmer’s hanging around until he’s forced out so he can depart with a fantastic golden parachute for steering Microsoft as well as a captain steers a rudderless ship.
I love it.
The comments here are never going to be read by Ballmer but in fact they are 100% correct and way more insightful than other so-called industry analysts. Those analysts are going the way of investment banking; sooner or later their bullshit will run out.
Ballmer at MSFT is the best strategy for AAPL and GOOG.
I hope they make it so that no other CEO can run MSFT.
Or get Bill back. He is just as clueless.
(He’s just stuck Ballmer in as CEO so that he can blame the fall of MSFT on him; Baller is too stupid to understand that, or decided he has no choice. What’s he going to do after MSFT?)
They are away from their DNA. Apparently they can’t see the simple solution to spark things again.
So now I’m forced to use Live Search ??!?!!!
Well,
Lots of people don’t trust M$, I just don’t see google giving up it’s dominant position without some seachange in technology.
The browser numbers support the long term trend downward of M$. As people become aware of alternative browsers they try and use them. If there weren’t soo many sites designed exclusively for explorer, I’m pretty sure M$ wouldn’t have a dominant share in browsers either. It’s really interesting to see those walls coming down. Fewer and fewer websites require explorer.
Worst offenders are Banks and Financial institutions. No wonder they are in the pickle they are!
@qka
Why would you own M$ shares? I hope they were given to you… time to sell
“Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s retirement date:”
Who wants to know? Microsoft?
Boy, is he in for a surprise. That sort of boastful arrogance comes right before a comeuppance.
Zune, surely you would like to straighten this out.
Palin said the American people aren’t stupid and can see thru all the hype…and eventually Micro$oft shareholders also will get smart and hold Ballmer accountable. Retire Ballmy before they put your head on a platter.
Never is a bit of a stretch even for Darth Ballmer, the Dark Lord of the Sith.
Perhaps after the next Millennium Edition is released a thousand years from now, he’ll relinquish his reign to Darth Mundie under the tutelage of Emperor Gates.
I cannot wait to see what “Brick” is.
Something tells me it’s going to cause a run on chairs at all pacific northwest Office Depot stores.