As someone who has spent time at Microsoft, Ballmer did good for the company post-gates for awhile, but hit a plateau. He continued too long and thus brought i

As someone who has spent time at Microsoft, Ballmer did good for the company post-gates for awhile, but hit a plateau. He continued too long and thus brought in the stalled time that some refer to as the Ballmeriam era. And have qualms about how things were handled during that time. I have no public opinion on that. That said, Ballmer addressing employees, he bled the company on his sleeve. Even having disagreements on how things were, the genuine feeling coming from him - in person or on video - was actually contagious - for a time. Things are not black and white. My only knowledge of Paul Allen outside of stories about Vulcan ventures was knowing people that worked at one of his properties having to sign NDAs, which is understandable. No one is black and white. Faults should not be washed over, achievements over blown, hopefully we all add something net positive in our finite time.