This story has been repeated elsewhere on the Internet under, you might think, more sensible headlines such as “influential hedge fund manager…”, “New York Hedge Fund Manager” and so on. I’m sticking to my guns with my headline though, but not because I think Steve Ballmer should stay on at Microsoft.
At an investment conference in New York, hedge fund manager David Einhorn, who is apparently somebody that other hedge fund managers take notice of these days, has said it’s now right for Microsoft to call time on Steve Ballmer’s reign at the helm of the company.
He said “Ballmer’s continued presence is the biggest overhang on Microsoft’s stock.” going on to say that Ballmer should step aside and “give someone else a chance.”
Now as a tech watcher and commentator I have mixed views about Ballmer. Generally I think he’s doing a good job and I was having lunch with some Microsofties only on Monday who say that it’s not true he’s an unpopular CEO, quite the opposite they told me.
He does bring some unique characteristics to Microsoft, not the least of which is charisma. This is something that is not only lacking from other CEOs in the tech industry, all of them in fact, but it’s something that gets the company and its products noticed.
There’s obviously more to it though than knowing how to work a crowd and project across a room. You need to know how to run a company as well. Now Microsoft has definitely been in the doldrums in recent years, nobody will deny this which is why Ballmer has been under increasing pressure in recent months. If you look now at the work Microsoft is doing on Windows and other projects for release in the coming year, it’s becoming very clear that the company has got its mojo back.
There are going to be some very exciting things coming out of Redmond in the next twelve months. The first of these were Kinect and Windows Phone. Both very innovative, both very exciting and both developed in only a very short period of time. The tablet work that the company is doing, which I fully expect will lead to a PC in your pocket within four years looks to be nothing short of revolutionary.
I personally have no doubt that Ballmer is steering Microsoft on the right course, and I wish him well with it for as long as he’s the company’s CEO.
However, big business is all about money. It’s all about shareholders and hedge fund managers. Now I’m going to put this into perspective for you, I hope you don’t mind as this does make me rather angry. It was hedge fund managers who were largely, if not mostly, no… completely responsible for the global economic downturn we faced a couple of years ago and are still pulling ourselves out from!
Technology companies should be about the technology, the passion and innovation. Nobody, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg or anybody who started the big technology companies went into it to make money and build huge companies. They all went into it because they had innovations that were exciting and could change the world.
To have people come in and say that these companies now, while they are successful, should just be about making rich people richer, is sucking the life-blood out of them. If we are to continue to have world-changing technologies, then it’s critical that we continue to encourage people to get all excited about the products they want to bring to market!
It’s simply not enough for a hedge fund manager, no matter how important he might be in the grand scheme of things, to dictate how technology companies should be run. His sole interest is making money for pension funds and rich people. The innovators who run the technology companies want to bring cheaper and smarter technology to developing nations, improve the standard of living of people around the world and revolutionise the way the, now, almost 7 billion people on planet Earth live their lives.
I ask you… who do you think we should be listening to?
Related Articles:
Remember To Call Notifies You Of Important Phone CallsNothing Important Happened Today
Tim Berners-Lee calls for Free Internet Everywhere
How Important is your Internet Service to You?
Germany.gov calls for Data Protection Code
Enjoyed the article?: Then sign-up for our free newsletter or RSS feed to kick off your day with the latest technology news and tips, or share the article with your friends and contacts on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ using the icons below.
I also used to be an evangelist of Microsoft, and in the past 10 years have seen weakness in product development and hollow promise of the next big thing from Ballmer. There comes a point when you have to step aside from the spin and second hand car salesman bravado and see a company that is desperately chasing the tails of others. Microsoft’s innovation in siezing the market with with Windows and Office through consumer to business is a cash cow that has been feasted on for far too long. A new direction is needed – and slating an individual for using his expertise in the money markets to identify the failure of a business – to realize it’s potential – shows that you are still blind to the obvious. Kinect was a great innovation that Microsoft bought – what has their skunkworks produced?
Heh, at the moment, you. Good points, and I had not read about this any place else. I do not think a typical newspaper, who have lost touch with the times anyway, would be able to have the tech perspective that a site like this does.
That said, I think what this guy wants, IMHO, is for the leadership to change. The stock will temporarily go up, making him money. After that, bail when everyone realizes new leadership has a learning curve.
I’m not a M$ fan, but I have to generally agree with this article and Ryan D’s comment. While far from their glory days, M$ is not doing so poorly that Ballmer should be forced out. M$ is different now and so is IT.
This Einhorn guy is one of the scum-sucking bottom feeders that got us in the hole we’re in. He wants to create a spike in M$ stock (which I’m sure he has already bought cheap) so he can dump it and make a tidy profit for his clients. That is his ONLY interest! He cares not for M$ or IT or the economy or jobs or the unwashed masses. He only cares about making money right now and to hell with the future or any impact his actions cause. I wouldn’t trust him or anyone like him any farther than I can throw the Empire State Building.
You just read “Hedge Fund Manager” and the guy loses all credibility.
A few notes:
1. This hedge fund manager runs a hedge fund that owns Microsoft shares. As a share owner he has the right to express criticizm on Ballmer. What he did say was that Ballmer is the reason that MS shares are stalled; and he is right – look at MS shares since Ballmer stepped in.
2. If you think that Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg didn’t start their companies for money, you are probaly smoking…They all do it for the money, but I agree that they have the vision that their replacements didn’t have. Look at Apple, it died when Jobs got the boot and came back to life when he returned.
3. You may not like what I have to say here, but still: you went against hedge fund managers and blame them for ruining the economy. The problem is that they didn’t do anything wrong – legaly, that is. Since the industry is not regulated, they can do whatever they want. If you go back to the roots of the economic crisis, you’ll see that the government pushed banks to provide sub prime mortgages and reduced regulation. Don’t blame the kids…blame the parents.
On a personal note: Ballmer should go…
Your logic, quite frankly, is flawed. The sole purpose of a CEO is to maximize benefits to shareholders (in public companies). Period. There is simply no other reason for the man to exist in the Microsoft ecosystem, as he has failed to do just that, and, as such, brings no value to the shareholders. Your statements are indicative of an idealist, and not a shareholder. This is not a matter of argument, but of reality. As I said in the first sentence, your logic is flawed.
I agree with Enk Ryptor. The “article” sound like an evangelist post, rather than an objective look at the business/finance realities surrounding Microsoft. Fact is – shareholders don’t trust or like Ballmer. Specially institutional ones.
While I do agree that – speaking from a tech point of view – Microsoft has definitely stepped up their game, the finance reality is that both Apple and Google are kickick Microsoft a$$. So Einhorn is right on his part. Also, maybe do some research on who Einhorn is, and of his track record – may give you an idea on whether he is entitled to his opinion or not.