“Senior Microsoft executives, disenchanted with the company’s stagnant stock, have been secretly discussing how to kick Chief Steve Ballmer, and maybe the board, to the curb,” Peter Lauria reports for The Daily Beast. “An emotional tribute to his 30 years of service nearly brought Microsoft’s testosterone-fueled CEO Steve Ballmer to tears yesterday in front of more than 10,000 employees gathered in Atlanta for the software giant’s annual global sales meeting.”
“‘He was rendered completely speechless,’ a tweet from one of the conference’s attendees reported. ‘Incredibly intense and moving experience.’ According another Microsoft executive at the conference, there may be a reason for the drama other than gratitude: Ballmer may not be at Microsoft when next year’s event rolls around,” Lauria reports. “‘It felt like it could have been a sign of his last mgx [Microsoft Global Experience],’ wrote this insider in a text message to me. ‘A farewell?’ Indeed, this executive and several other sources close to Microsoft say that there is a growing resentment among a faction of certain executives inside the company who blame Ballmer for the years-long stagnation in Microsoft’s stock price.”
MacDailyNews Take: Oh, by the way: JP Morgan ups Apple price target to $400 – July 21, 2010
Lauria continues, “Sources say the talk around Microsoft’s Redmond, Washington, headquarters—which has grown increasingly louder ever since Apple surpassed Microsoft in market capitalization–is that the company’s stock suffers from a ‘Ballmer discount’ and that the CEO is on the clock to significantly move the needle on its share price over the next two or three quarters or face a potential move to oust him. ‘Ballmer is on the list of mega-executives under pressure,’ says a banker who has negotiated deals for Microsoft. ‘If he was asked to leave the building, I suspect there would be more happy than unhappy people.'”
MacDailyNews Take: Wait until Microsoft confirms that Apple have zipped past them in quarterly revenue, too.
Lauria continues, “There are also two powerful intangibles that will make it difficult for any group, however sizable, to remove Ballmer: Microsoft’s board supports him unwaveringly, and there’s no obvious successor that could easily slide into his post.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Leave him be. He’s doing an excellent job.*
*For Apple.
Oh no! Go back to sleep. Poppies, meadows full of lovely poppies for all M$. Keep Ballmer, good Ballmer, live long at the helm, ride M$ down to Davey’s Locker. Sleep, sleep, you are content with Ballmer.
Well, at least he could go on to Dancing with the Stars if he is kicked out.
Don’t do it Microsoft, you will lose a legend and true visionary. Give him a Windows Phone 7 and a raise.
Ballmer shit-canned?
Nooooooooooo!
Let’s not panic people- Microsoft is always late on release dates.
He’s a perfectly good CEO, they’re just holding him wrong.
At the MGX, his reception was excellent, but admittedly was unable to talk.
The one thing that MDN has nailed more perfectly than any other is the fact that Ballmer is of more benefit to Apple than anyone.
All those times when someone in the media asked him a comparison to Apple question the reaction on his face, in his eyes, and coming out of his mouth have provided amazing insight into his failed leadership.
And, I don’t think he is going anywhere – if that happened it would be a Microsoft admission that Steve Jobs was the cause and that would be worse than Ballmer losing his zillions of dollars and camped out under a bridge somewhere.
It would take a big man to fill his shoes.
I suggest those looking for a successor do a reality TV show where the sales person who can throw the desk chair the furthest gets the job.
Whatever happens, make sure a sales guy is in charge.
Monkey-boy will go ape is doing a great job! of bringing down the company…..please leave him bee!
From Monday Note: here
“The departing CEO meets his successor and hands him three envelopes to be opened in the prescribed order when trouble strikes. First crisis, the message in envelope #1 says: Blame your predecessor. Easy enough. Another storm, the the CEO opens the second envelope: Reorganize. Good idea. And when calamity strikes yet again, he reaches for the third: Get three envelopes…”
Balmer opened the 2nd envelope when he fired Robbie Bach and J Allard and reorganized Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices division. The coming Windows 7 Phone disaster will lead to the 3rd envelope.
The current rot at Microsoft goes way beyond anything getting rid of Ballmer would fix. Take their fractured approach to mobile phones, where competing divisions and infighting are resulting in numerous incompatible strategies, canned products, and loss of both carrier and manufacturer confidence. That’s the culture up in The Beast these days, and it’s reflected right the way through. Ousting the Board would only collapse the stock price sooner in the short term, and probably lead to the break up of the company in order to save stockholder value.
Apple need a strong Microsoft in order to keep themselves focussed. Keep Ballmer MSFT shareholders.
It’s already too late to replace Ballmer.
The magnitude necessary to properly reorganize MSFT, and Resnais it’s DNA gives Apple another 5 years to cement it’s lead in all areas.
By then MSFT won’t be able to close Apple’s 10 year lead.
No no, say it ain’t so.
Actually it is amazing he’s lasted so long, I guess because he was anointed by Gates, who must have wanted to put the one guy stupider than himself on the throne. Ballmer’s capabilities barely reach sales manager at a local car dealership.
Microsoft has hired a lot of brain power they just wasted. Even when they contracted top ad agencies, and then didn’t let them do good work. Hopefully the culture and the brand are so damaged, the dysfunction so deep, any new leadership short of a Steve Jobs clone can’t save them. This company deserves to die.
@deepdish
more like…
Dancing with disaStars
ha
The cellphone game has definitely changed the game. Apple stock up.. At&T hitting all-time highs. Every dog has his day. MS couldn’t reign forever. Who knew the cellphone would be the dagger that changed the game?(don’t answer that)
It boggles my (admittedly not-very-business-savvy) mind that Ballmer has been around as long as he has. Look at the number of really colossal failures Microsoft has suffered in even just the last five years or so, from Vista to Zune to the X-Box-red-ring-of-death to the Kin. And yet he makes millions, and Microsoft’s myopic board just keeps paying him.
“Things that make you go ‘hmmmm.'”
It doesn’t matter who runs that ship, it’s done. Their business model requires a monopoly. The next ten years will bring about the inevitable unwinding of some fraction of that operation.
Would that mean the end of the stylus?
This is a company that lives by the “good enough” motto. I doubt they’ll oust him any time soon…at least I hope not. Balmer really is the Windows of executives.
if WinPhone 7 flops, he’s outta there.
@ Justatecfan
“Who knew the cellphone would be the dagger that changed the game?(don’t answer that)”
It bears mentioning for the Balmers of the world, Apple knew.
The problem with Microsoft is that it has never innovated anything except copying Apple and competing on price. The thing is that Apple is no longer that expensive compared to comprable hardware from other manufacturers. So this price edge has evaporated to an extent. You can still built your own computer and save money, but how are you going to build your own smart phone, or you own tablet?
@MDN: “He’s doing an excellent job.* Yup, yessiree! Sure is. Always like the guy. I hope he stays at Microsoft for years to come. Yup.
And now – finally – it’s time to film the sequel to “Pirates In The Valley”. Yeah, who got the loot, Microsoft?
The greatest second act in business history is now complete.
@Dave H
What you have described is very similar to the situation at Ford when Alan Mullaly tookover. It may take some time to fix, (year or 2), but with microsofts cash flow, fixing it would be much easier than you think.
What Micro$haft has been unable to do, and this is indeed where failed leadership comes in, is cannibalize their current product for a better one.
The must have of compatibility with previous generations is a huge anchor around Micro$hafts neck, and until they get a leader who knows when to cut bait, and a good enough saleman to sell that change, then Micro$haft will not be able to innovate at the same rate as its competitors Apple and Google.
HP has figured this out, hence its move to create its operating system.