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The fact that the current CFO is a long-term Morgan Stanley alum should be a pretty strong signal about the direction the board wants to take Google. It's not
by iaw 11y ago
The fact that the current CFO is a long-term Morgan Stanley alum should be a pretty strong signal about the direction the board wants to take Google. It's not that hard to turn into Microsoft...
- fredkbloggs 11y agoGoogle is already Microsoft; it was almost from the very beginning. Despite repeated and wide-ranging (especially in Google's case) efforts to build additional businesses, both companies are from a revenue perspective one-trick ponies. Google has search advertising and Microsoft has the Windows+Office franchise. From a shareholder's perspective, nothing else either company does offers any [positive] return. My great hope is that the new funding rules will make startups accessible to the general investing population. That would, in principle, obviate the desire of existing companies with mature, successful businesses to go out and start unrelated new efforts. Conglomerates aren't very popular these days and haven't been for a long time; it would be nice to see these companies stick to what they're good at, pay their shareholders richly, and then let those shareholders decide whether they want to go invest that income in something else (and if so, in what). Well, a man can dream, right?
- ISL 11y agoWindows and Office are separate ponies.
- PirateDave 11y agoAlso, their server/tools division was more profitable than their Windows division starting in 2013[0] http://www.microsoft.com/Investor/EarningsAndFinancials/Financials/FY13/Q4/SegmentRevenues.aspx http://www.microsoft.com/Investor/EarningsAndFinancials/Fina...
- cwyers 11y agoAnd Azure may be another one.
- Grazester 11y agoApple is also a one trick pony too then. What do they have besides just the iphone being their real cash cow?
- dragonwriter 11y ago> The fact that the current CFO is a long-term Morgan Stanley alum should be a pretty strong signal about the direction the board wants to take Google. If the CEO was a Morgan Stanley alum, maybe, having a CFO from that background doesn't seem to be all that strong of a signal of anything.
- iaw 11y agoI disagree. Any C-level coming from a large financial institution or a consulting firm is a clear signal Could you elaborate why you don't think the CFO is a strong signal?
- dragonwriter 11y ago> Could you elaborate why you don't think the CFO is a strong signal? I don't think the CFO having a history in a large financial firm is strong signal for the same reason I don't think the Chief Counsel having a history in a large legal firm or -- even for a firm that isn't a tech firm -- the CTO having a history in a large tech firm is a strong signal: its a background tightly connected to the specific domain of responsibility. OTOH, a CEO or COO being drawn from a specific industry other than the one the firm is operating in, or any C-level drawn from an industry both different than that of the firm and not tied to the specific domain for which they are responsible, may be a strong signal.
- iaw 11y agoYou have a valid point, thank you for explaining your view. I suppose I do agree with you in principal that the CEO, CTO, and COO send stronger signals about the direction of the company than the CFO. I do still believe that pulling any execs straight out of finance creates the potential for nasty cultural changes.