3 ms·
You got Microsoft in the wrong category. Gates gave the reins to Ballmer, an MBA, which tanked the stock. Ballmer was never a founder, he was an employee with
by nowherebeen 4y ago
You got Microsoft in the wrong category. Gates gave the reins to Ballmer, an MBA, which tanked the stock. Ballmer was never a founder, he was an employee with early stock. Microsoft flourished when Gates was the CEO.
> Ballmer joined Microsoft on June 11, 1980, and became Microsoft's 30th employee, the first business manager hired by Gates
> [Ballmer] left the MBA program at Stanford University
Ballmer is what Marisa Mayer was (or vice versa). An employee that latched onto a rocket. What made the company successful wasn’t them but the founder. By the time you can hire the 10th employee, risk is already greatly reduced.
- WheelsAtLarge 4y agoThe way I remember it is that profit's growth for MS greatly increased under Ballmer but company growth tanked and that's what tanked the stock since MS lost its reputation as a growth stock. But generally speaking Ballmer was not the best choice to take on the company.
- nemothekid 4y agoYes, Ballmer spent his decade squeezing oil from rocks while completely shitting the bed on anything forward looking; as a result they lost ground on almost every consumer facing product. On the outside Microsoft was starting look like IBM. However his focus on enterprise laid the seeds for 365 and Azure and flourished once Satya made it clear that not everything had to revolve around Windows and Office. I think Gates is also a bit to blame here as I think the story goes that almost every decision that came to the board was shot down unless it meant more windows/office sales