7 ms·
Never mind the issue of tech worker poaching and whatever secret agreements the companies made, the real issue here is Ballmer’s terrifying spasm of violence. H
by gnu8 3y ago
Never mind the issue of tech worker poaching and whatever secret agreements the companies made, the real issue here is Ballmer’s terrifying spasm of violence. He ought to have been removed from the building and barred from the property, and his employment terminated. That type of outburst is never ok because it forces everyone to wonder at what point he might assault someone.
I don’t care how many billions of dollars are at stake, none of it is worth getting hurt over, and throwing chairs around demonstrates that he has lost that perspective.
- sidewndr46 3y agoThis doesn't get said enough. Just because you are CEO should not shield you from criminal liability
- sonotathrowaway 3y agoTo be fair it wasn’t his office that shielded him from consequences, it was his wealth. It’s not like a poor person who founded their own LLC would be coddled by the legal system.
- jen20 3y agoSomeone "close to the source" once told me that he would pace about meetings rotating a baseball bat like a baton. The chair doesn't seem like the biggest problem here!
- paxys 3y agoBallmer being CEO of Microsoft for 14 years (and making himself $100B in the process) should be part of business school case studies for corporate mismanagement. He had no ability for the job, no technological understanding or vision, really no reason to be at the company at all other than being friends with Bill Gates in college. Microsoft as a company (along with its stock price) was stagnant throughout his tenure, and has grown 15x since Nadella took over.
- scarface_74 3y agoThe stock market is a poor measurement of how a company is doing. During Ballmer’s tenure, revenues tripled and profits doubled. There is no reasonable analysis that Nadella did anything to cause the present value of all future cash flows to be 15x - how stock values should be evaluated.
- maerF0x0 3y agoRevenue and profit growth are poor measures of how good a manager is. during how much inflation, on how much new capital, and what did competitors do during the time period? A mannequin can double revenues with enough capital. A passive investor can double profit with enough capital. Only a superior manager/leader can out perform peers while consuming similar or fewer resources
- scarface_74 3y agoWhich “peers” did Microsoft have during most of the Balmer area? Apple was “beleaguered” during the early years. Azure is only successful by selling into the enterprise based on relationships built during the Balmer era. Microsoft Office is their other cash cow that was nurtured during the Balmer area and Windows is still a money maker. The one big accomplishment that Nadela did was “Office everywhere”. But the iOS port was already in full swing when Balmer was CEO.