“Outgoing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has always been a speaker and performer like no other,” Nilay Patel reports for The Verge.
“That energy was on full display earlier this week, as Ballmer led his last Microsoft employee meeting as CEO — he’s announced his plan to step down within 12 months, and the search for a new chief executive is currently underway,” Patel reports. “And while earlier reports hinted at the intensity of Ballmer’s feelings during his speech, The Verge has obtained exclusive video of Ballmer’s final moments on stage.”
Patel reports, “[It is] vintage, perfect Steve Ballmer: intense, emotional, and set to the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. The tech industry will never again have anyone like him.”
Direct link to video here.
MacDailyNews Take: What are the silly, pink slip-bound Microsoft employees applauding Ballmer for, depth of failure?
Steve Jobs steamrolled the guy unmercifully. Then he backed up and did it again. And again. And again. Tim Cook is still doing it.
Hey, Ballmer, you took a frightfully dominant company that could have, should have, absolutely owned mobile personal computing, but instead – even with all of the tools and myriad advantages at your disposal – you totally blew it, buried under and blinded by your own hubris as you were and still are. Great job! Bravo! Standing O!
You couldn’t cut through the delusion in that room with a chainsaw. Watching this video is like watching a SNL parody. It’s amazing that it’s real, which makes it sickening and appalling.
Buh-bye, big dumb monkey. We’re gonna miss ya, ya big lug. You made it sooo damn easy.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Ellis D.” for the heads up.]
Lovely…dreams DO come true, don’t they?
First Michael Dell and now Ballmer. Who will we have left to ridicule? Seems like the end of an era.
Lest you forget, a minor league player; Balsillie.
I wonder what those applauding employees are thinking two or more years down the road when 40~50% layoff axed falls on their heads. Right now, MS has 130,000 head counts. Shrinking PC and encroaching productivity apps would destroy MS’ cash cow. How can MS support that many head counts with less revenues, and lower margin? If I were MS employee, I would plan my exit strategy now. Or ask RIM employee.
Stockholm Syndrome?
“Would you like to supersize that?”
… and have you seen the responses about his sincerity et al. The guys is a salesman, its what they do, the only thing he is tearful about is having to live the rest of his life knowing he failed. But hey he did his best to convince as many bozos as possible to rewrite his history, yep thats the sum of his emotional sincerity.
only audience more deluded than Obama Messiah voters.
would be fun if someone re-edited it where the BSOD appeared half way through.
The blinking, glowing wristbands must have some mind control powers.
Clueless as ever and back at posting again botvinnik?
Why’d ya have to go and do that?
The only thing worse than a wing nut is a troll that can’t lose with dignity.
Let’s let the Dems build up another surplus and then you can get them bomb makes back in there to squander it.
Oh yea F*ck you for dragging some retardo politics into the discussion of Ballmy.
Thanks for replying, Botty…now fuck off.
Oh, man, that was so icky to watch 😝
If only they had get him at the helm another 20 years. What MacroThief deserves.
The employees only showed up because they got free concert tickets… 🙂
but who will finish his job?
Hate to see him go …… He was doing such a fine job …..
Now who will we have to guide the great MSFT …. MSFT is doomed now …… Gosh darn it!
Ballmer still had to show up at the office next day so the tearful dramatics and overblown goodbye performance all seems a bit premature.
Quite honestly it was like watching a scientology convention.
Nice.
I wonder if he hurt his shoulder slapping everybody? I really enjoyed the time he hurt his leg while bouncing around on the stage. I laugh every single time I watch it. I wonder what the employees were mumbling to each other while this idiot was on stage crying? Embarrassing. But funny as hell. Bill Gates must feel like a fool, waiting this long.
tacky, uncultured, cheap, Low Class, self promotional of the worst kind. I enjoyed the laugh, and all the Microsoft employees gathered were faking it, they just wanted a piad day out LOL
I wonder when he will start twerking it. I’d love to see that…maybe.
Oh, the humanity…
The only way I would watch it if he’s naked! Twerking!
You. Would. Watch. THAT? *shudder*
I like it-I like it a lot
Microsoft, looking backwards, says farewell to its leader.
Why else do you think Canada sent Cruz to us? 😆
My comment above that looks out of place was a reply to auramac’s comment which was deleted after I replied.
Microsoft: Can’t hold us?
WTF is that supposed to mean? They make no sense on any front, whatever the message!
my thoughts too…
Ha ha… Microsoft:
Can’t hold us… ransom to work here any longer.
Can’t keep us… employed.
Can’t pay us… any longer .
Can’t help us… get our stock shares up again.
Can
How pathetic, just leave already. This guy has the social skills of a three year old. What a blubbering baffoon. When you watch an Apple event, you can’t help but to admire the polish, intellect and professionalism of the presenters. Ballmer is hard to watch and take seriously. I feel embarassed for him. The man has no shame, and no class. He should have been gone six years ago. He actually should have never been put at the helm to begin with. Farewell Monkey Boy, and good riddance.
buffoon.
Oh…and also, that is hard to watch. I can’t imagine Steve Jobs going out like that!
He lacked vision and got blindsided by the mobile revolution that iOS ushered in. But to his credit, I feel he milked Microsoft’s cash cows, Windows and Office, for everything they’re worth.
At the end of the day, the sales guy was able to sell what he had but couldn’t innovate anything new and great.
SOAK IT IN! SOAK IT IN!
Failure. You’re soaking in it.
How bad could it be? I threw up a little my mouth watching it.
So, it looks like Steve Ballmer was able to download that song from iTunes Ok. Does this mean that Steve Ballmer’s family can take their iOS devices out of the closet now?
Bye Steve!
I couldn’t help myself *wipes away tear*.
What will Ballmer’s Left Nut be after Ballmer?
Lonely. Sad. Just like now.
Instead of being worried and working on the direction of a sinking company they’re doing this ???
I like their strategy a lot..
Oh the drama, the emotion, the tears. All delivered on autocue.
Autocue is a street word for cocaine. I think you hit the nail right on the head there.
I noticed two things:
1) something is wrong with his left foot. He may have a health problem.
2) I realize he is worth 16 billion and he has spent the majority of his professional career at Microsoft and a significant portion of his net worth depends on Microsoft’s stock price after he leaves, but with all that being said- he and the Microsoft employees are just TOO emotional to be healthy. After all it is just your job.
I saw that video of Tim Cook speaking to the Apple employees after Steve Jobs died, and a lot of them were incredibly sad but not overly emotional to the point of unneeded hagiography. And heavens knows Apple’s biggest problem right now is misplaced Steve Jobs hagiography.
Old Fat Balding Monkey Boy Dancing Salesman CEO’s don’t retire, they just sweat away… (apologies to General MacArthur)
At around the 1:20 mark he talks about MS being innovative and ethical, etc. OMG. I just threw up a little in my mouth.
Psychosis is never good in a leader. This is embarrassing, tacky and maudlin.
There’s no way I can watch that. Just the still photo is bad enough!
You have to. YTube has the 720P HD Version! Yes can’t wait for 1080p!!! lol
One word comes to mind: Bittersweet.
Why is he always SCREAMING! I don’t want to soak in that sweat…even on video, I’m feeling that stink on my skin!!!
Gosh I though the song was gonna be “Me So Horny by 2 Live Crew”!!!
I would love to see a ‘Game of Thrones’ adaptation of Microsoft under Ballmer, somebody has to be looking for financing it as I write…
And to steal a line from Steve…”I got one more thing”.. “if you like my closing song (blubber blubber),, you can purchase it on ITunes like I did”.
Wierd. Holds his own going away event and cries like a baby. He should just gone quietly into the night. Don’t recall Bill Gates going out with all the hoopla.
“Not *that* kind of inappropriate!” … it’s inappropriate in so many ways, it’s hard to tell which one he’s referring to, there.
I tried to watch the vid of monkey-boy but could only up to where he starts blubbering. So embarrassing.
The thing is, he means it !! I don’t know how he can do all this bullshit over and over. The guy is totally without any clue re his ridiculous behaviour. Imagine what his kids think when they see their buffoon of a father screaming and bouncing around like a demented crack addict.
I get no satisfaction from seeing any company go down in flames. MS is going the same way as Blackberry. Losing money on dead products, ignoring the present while clinging to a strategy going nowhere.
Microsoft is not one company and never will be. They autonomous divisons, all headed by a headed by one person who have their own p/l , corporate structure and so on. These divisons have been at war with each other since forever.
Ballmer tried to restructure MS as a product and services as per Apples style but complexity rules at MS. From the top down MS is drowning in a sea of processes and “big company” bullshit.
It shows in their products. Everything they make is complexity personified. Nothing can change this. It’s burnt in at the very beginning. Simplicity and focus is very hard to achieve if it’s not embraced from the beginning. Ballmer’s efforts have come to nothing, for example the surface 2, a new iteration of a product barely any different than the last that no one wanted in the first place. WTF !
I think MS will break up in the next few years along the lines of their current divison structure ie Office Inc, Windows inc etc.
BB spun down over a few years and then reports HUGE 9 million odd and poof – their sold for its patent portfolio.
MS has been spinning down for years then then reopts a HUGE 9 million odd loss over Surface. MS won’t go down like BB but as they keep doing what they have always done nothing will stop the slide.
MS built itself by destroying its competition by either swallowing or bullying them out of existence.
Khama is a bitch.
It’s hard to believe that guy could hold a job anywhere, much less lead a major company. He’s the poster child for no taste, class, intellect or vision. A big, fat, blubbering Monkeyboy.
So, apparently, he took a page from Palin with the notes on the hand. Very Professional.
Oh, the tears, dear lord in heaven, those tears (I think I just threw up a little).
Granted, I like yellow, but doesn’t yellow mean coward.
I could not get to the song, did not want to ruin whatever song he thought was “appropriate”
And the applauding, I would applaud too if I did not really have to work too hard for 11 years.
Why are they applauding him and sad because he’s leaving?
easy:
they know that its because of Ballmer they had years of high paying cushy bureaucratic (pencil pushing, office politics ) jobs with lots of benefits and time off. The minimal talents who could play the corporate ‘game’ had the time of their lives.
they know that if Msft was run by a Steve Jobs half of them would have been fired 10 years ago.
I base my above statements from blogs from msft employees over the years:
one long missive had a manager explain why he decided to apply to msft instead of apple:
better benefits, job security, a more ‘structured’ management and advancement (i.e promotions, he mentioned in msft Jobs wasn’t going to fire you in the elevator), more independent divisions (i.e more chances of getting into senior management) etc.
NOT ONE WORD about his desire to ‘PUSH INNOVATION, EXERCISE HIS BRILLIANCE or CHANGE the WORLD’.
remember as a very young man Jobs enticed Sculley by saying “do you want to sell sugar water or change the world” and Jobs with his vision convinced Cook who said he had a very good job in a very successful company (compaq) to jump ship to a struggling Apple .
Over the years I simply don’t see Msft espousing vision, neither do their managers. The ‘war ‘ between divisions like Win Mobile (Kin, Win Mo, Pink, Danger, WinPhone) vs Win Desktop (Win 8, new Win Phone) reeks of bureaucratic in fighting — politicians more than visionaries (it was so bad that’s why Ballmer had to do so many re structures… )
So apparently selling cars and selling software is not EXACTLY the same skill set… Who knew?
Notice how he had to read from the teleprompter. Even the “emotion” was scripted, staged, and then poorly delivered. It was like watching Uncle Fester practicing his lines.
I have one reaction: control-alt-delete
Oops, even that was a mistake.
This was the most pathetic display of sweaty, baldy, slob boy ever. What a total disposal douche bag.
“You work for the greatest company in the world!”
__________
Why was he speaking to Apple employees?
“Soak it in! Soak it in!”
__________
Yeah, they’re soaking in it alright. Nothing a bottle of Clorox won’t take care of, though.
The opinions expressed by MacDailyNews are not necessarily those of the readers and users of this site! I can empathize with MDN’s take on Microsoft and their exiting CEO. But, let’s not be unprofessional about it! The popularity of products from any company is dependent on meeting the wants and needs of users/consumers. Those who succeed in doing so will sell many. Those who don’t will sell fewer. It happens to every company, including Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, etc. “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” I love Apple and their products, but I wouldn’t stoop so low to name-call other companies that are not as successful. Microsoft Corporation made $22 billion in net earnings recently, has $79 billion in net equity, and has 97,000 employees. Apple made $42 billion in net earnings last year, has $118 billion in net equity, and has 80,000 employees. Apple has come a long way since almost going bankrupt.
And then he puts his sunglasses back on & everyone lines up & drinks the kool aid! Geez – just flat out creepy!
I second that…creepy!
I couldn’t get past the first minute before I threw up in my mouth a little bit and had to stop watching.
I have a bottle of Tums by my bed for just such occasions. I chewed down three. I’m going to have nightmares.
The ego of this man is unbounded. What better way to contrast Microsoft and Apple than the way it’s two leaders exited? Steve Jobs left with a simple letter to the board, Ballmer lingers with a theatrical cast of adoring fans cheering him on. Mr. Jobs nailed it. Microsoft has no taste. How could it?
I’m not sure it’s ego rather than his bombast, knowing he can lie has ass off and the sycophants at Microsoft are going to lap it up like it’s gold plated dog shit.
“forward thinking, innovating, ethical” those words made me snort my morning coffee.
And you know exactly where Ballmer got those words: From Apple’s press releases, keynotes, advertisements and public manifesto as created by Steve Jobs decades ago. Collected words, then parroted out of his salesman mouth, looking earnest and emotional and tearful throughout. Scary. As. Hell. Even worse, the people cheering and applauding in response to the scam. This is how propaganda works.
It’s ego which fuels his bombast. In the ‘monkey dance’ video he screams ‘come on, get up, give it up for me!’ and when the audience starts to sit he screams ‘who said sit down!’
Two things:
1) Doesn’t he throw chairs whether he’s happy, mad, sad, or glad? I so gonna miss that 🙁
2) I think he’s been watching way too many tv evangelists.
Thank you and good night.
You can tell that Ballmer is a marketing guy. I’ve never heard a longer, run-on sentence’s worth, of horseshit coming out of the mouth of a CEO in my life. WHAT. AN. ASS. So precious I wanna hurl.
:-Q******
What a shame he’s leaving the worst company in the computer community. If only he’d stayed longer….
Too bad Microsoft’s customers haven’t had the time of their life using their products. Instead it took too much time OUT of their lives. Employees are probably cheering so hard because he’s leaving.
What is he talking about Microsoft being “forward thinking, innovating, ethical” he is in total denial? He wouldn’t be forced out right now if that was the truth.
Perfect song choice though for a guy with a huge golden parachute. He does owe it all to them. NO other company would have been stupid enough to put that idiot in charge of it and leave him there for so long after so many repeatedly blatant product failures. Wish I could fail that big and make that much money. Must be nice.
And he cheated us out of one last Monkey Dance damn it!
Retirement! Retirement! Retirement! Retirement!
– repeat chorus 10x
wow, he even got a little dance monkeyboy reprise in there at the end.
That video is truly horrible.
My GOD….the comments of people crying, breaking down as if this guy really had anything to do with real innovation.
Uncle Fester says “Bye Bye !”
Uncle Fester says, “Bye bye!”
I want him to stay.