3 ms·

As a big investor in $MSFT, I'm not saying I don't agree with Mr. Einhorn, but read the final paragraph: "Mr. Einhorn’s calls at the Ira Sohn conference Confer

As a big investor in $MSFT, I'm not saying I don't agree with Mr. Einhorn, but read the final paragraph: "Mr. Einhorn’s calls at the Ira Sohn conference Conference a year ago, however, have not panned out, as Zero Hedge noted earlier on Wednesday. Going short Moody’s and McGraw-Hill, while going long African Barrick Gold, would have meant double-digit declines."

SlipperySlope 15y ago
What would be the upside if Ballmer quit? 10% pop? I wish a corporate raider would take on Microsoft with the intent of distributing the cash hoard to stockholders and divesting all the money-losing operations - could be a double!
- potatolicious 15y ago
  > "What would be the upside if Ballmer quit?" A CEO that knows WTF he's doing in the consumer space? Ballmer has proven that he handles the enterprise products just fine, but if MS wants any hope of hanging onto consumer products (consumer Windows, electronics, mobile, gaming, etc) I'd get rid of Ballmer and write J Allard a blank check to come back.
  - nikcub 15y ago
    they have lost so much good talent during the Ballmer battle years - Allard, Ozzie et al. They could have made a great team with a good CEO, instead we got Ballmer getting rid of them all to strengthen his own position
    - wisty 15y ago
      If that's really the case (and not just that Ozzie was, say, impractical) then that's the best reason I've heard yet to get rid of him. A guy who will fire talent to make himself secure is a huge liability.
      - prodigal_erik 15y ago
        Spolsky had an "architecture astronaut" critique in part about how Ozzie keeps blowing years rewriting Notes: http://joelonsoftware.com/items/2008/05/01.html http://joelonsoftware.com/items/2008/05/01.html
        mnutt 15y ago
        Rereading that article, I had forgotten about this part: "because synchronizing files is just not a killer application. I'm sorry. It seems like it should be. But it's not."
        sriramk 15y ago
        I read that same bit again. Kudos to Dropbox - I would have agreed with that statement if Dropbox hadn't existed
        bad_user 15y ago
        That's because Microsoft is not familiar with the single most important principle when designing consumer products ... simplicity and exclusion. Dropbox is useful because it's in essence a simple product. Every time Microsoft designs something, it has to include everything but the kitchen sink.
      - count 15y ago
        Remember though, Ballmer is the single largest shareholder of MSFT that is still actively involved with the company. He's pretty secure, and has a tremendous amount of skin in the game. He's also not an idiot.
        Bud 15y ago
        Nobody doubts his motivation. People doubt his talent and his cluefulness level.
        15y ago
  - yannickt 15y ago
    "Ballmer has proven that he handles the enterprise products just fine" He can milk the Office cash cow, but has he really driven innovation in the enterprise? Amazon is considered a pioneer of enterprise cloud computing, yet they started as an online retailer, not a platform/infrastructure provider.

SlipperySlope 15y ago

What would be the upside if Ballmer quit? 10% pop? I wish a corporate raider would take on Microsoft with the intent of distributing the cash hoard to stockholders and divesting all the money-losing operations - could be a double!

potatolicious 15y ago
> "What would be the upside if Ballmer quit?" A CEO that knows WTF he's doing in the consumer space? Ballmer has proven that he handles the enterprise products just fine, but if MS wants any hope of hanging onto consumer products (consumer Windows, electronics, mobile, gaming, etc) I'd get rid of Ballmer and write J Allard a blank check to come back.
- nikcub 15y ago
  they have lost so much good talent during the Ballmer battle years - Allard, Ozzie et al. They could have made a great team with a good CEO, instead we got Ballmer getting rid of them all to strengthen his own position
  - wisty 15y ago
    If that's really the case (and not just that Ozzie was, say, impractical) then that's the best reason I've heard yet to get rid of him. A guy who will fire talent to make himself secure is a huge liability.
    - prodigal_erik 15y ago
      Spolsky had an "architecture astronaut" critique in part about how Ozzie keeps blowing years rewriting Notes: http://joelonsoftware.com/items/2008/05/01.html http://joelonsoftware.com/items/2008/05/01.html
      - mnutt 15y ago
        Rereading that article, I had forgotten about this part: "because synchronizing files is just not a killer application. I'm sorry. It seems like it should be. But it's not."
        sriramk 15y ago
        I read that same bit again. Kudos to Dropbox - I would have agreed with that statement if Dropbox hadn't existed
        bad_user 15y ago
        That's because Microsoft is not familiar with the single most important principle when designing consumer products ... simplicity and exclusion. Dropbox is useful because it's in essence a simple product. Every time Microsoft designs something, it has to include everything but the kitchen sink.
    - count 15y ago
      Remember though, Ballmer is the single largest shareholder of MSFT that is still actively involved with the company. He's pretty secure, and has a tremendous amount of skin in the game. He's also not an idiot.
      - Bud 15y ago
        Nobody doubts his motivation. People doubt his talent and his cluefulness level.
        15y ago
- yannickt 15y ago
  "Ballmer has proven that he handles the enterprise products just fine" He can milk the Office cash cow, but has he really driven innovation in the enterprise? Amazon is considered a pioneer of enterprise cloud computing, yet they started as an online retailer, not a platform/infrastructure provider.