6 ms·

Ask HN: Should Bill Gates come back as the CEO of Microsoft?

11 points by sk2code 13y ago

pearjuice 13y ago
"If I were him I would never-ever take that position as a CEO ever again." https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6304463 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6304463
bobx66 13y ago
It seems like there is very little upside for him and frankly the rest of the world. He is doing great work now and taking over the reigns of Microsoft would be like the president of the United States running for congress after he completed his term.
- jaredsohn 13y ago
  More like the president of the United States quitting and running for congress _during_ his term. (An even better analogy would be if before the person was president they were involved with a different group of people, such as a theoretical President Ross Perot leaving the presidency to help rebuild Perot Systems.)
agibsonccc 13y ago
As crazy as it might sound, I think many tend to forget Gates was still quite involved with Microsoft. As chairman, and Ballmer as CEO, it was still effectively a Gates regime as far as vision goes. He's a smart man doing great things, but he's not perfect. Microsoft needs a new direction. Their assets are still valuable and have a huge potential for a great upside. It's easy to play armchair CEO, but overall I'd say some new blood is needed. For example, Mayer at yahoo may have been controversial, but she's turning it around. I don't think some new ideas would hurt the company overall.
- badclient 13y ago
  but she's turning it around. Source? She's trying to turn it around for sure but it is way too early to say that she's been successful. Her wins have largely been pr-wins which I wouldn't discount but there is only so many times you can cite your awesome weather app as evidence of a turnaround before people begin asking what more she's got besides the weather app.
  - agibsonccc 13y ago
    Fair enough. I won't get in to a long drawn out battle about it. I should say she's getting people talking about Yahoo again. Relevance is at least a start. You also can't say she's run it in to the ground as of yet either.
    - badclient 13y ago
      Agreed!
fiatmoney 13y ago
Compared to what he's spending his time on now, I'd imagine the idea of seizing a few (or even a bunch of) percentage points of marketshare away from Google / Oracle / Sony / etc. seems rather trivial.
groundCode 13y ago
No - Bill Gates is spending his time doing far more useful things
stewartjarod 13y ago
No. He has been done with that for years. He is happy where he is. The leader of the board.
orionblastar 13y ago
No Bill Gates is done, he is enjoying retirement and giving out vaccinations to people in the third world. Microsoft should just buy out Valve Software to get Gabe Newell back, and then make him the new CEO. Gabe knows how to get stuff done, and he knows how to fix Windows and make great software. Either that or buy out the old Atari in Europe to get Noland Bushnell as CEO of Microsoft. Steve Wozniak is available for CEO as well, he seemed to like the Windows Mobile 8 phones. Marc Andreessen formerly of Netscape has become a Microsoft fan and would make a good CEO.

11 points by sk2code 13y ago

"If I were him I would never-ever take that position as a CEO ever again." https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6304463 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6304463

bobx66 13y ago

It seems like there is very little upside for him and frankly the rest of the world. He is doing great work now and taking over the reigns of Microsoft would be like the president of the United States running for congress after he completed his term.

jaredsohn 13y ago
More like the president of the United States quitting and running for congress _during_ his term. (An even better analogy would be if before the person was president they were involved with a different group of people, such as a theoretical President Ross Perot leaving the presidency to help rebuild Perot Systems.)

agibsonccc 13y ago

As crazy as it might sound, I think many tend to forget Gates was still quite involved with Microsoft. As chairman, and Ballmer as CEO, it was still effectively a Gates regime as far as vision goes. He's a smart man doing great things, but he's not perfect. Microsoft needs a new direction. Their assets are still valuable and have a huge potential for a great upside. It's easy to play armchair CEO, but overall I'd say some new blood is needed. For example, Mayer at yahoo may have been controversial, but she's turning it around. I don't think some new ideas would hurt the company overall.

badclient 13y ago
but she's turning it around. Source? She's trying to turn it around for sure but it is way too early to say that she's been successful. Her wins have largely been pr-wins which I wouldn't discount but there is only so many times you can cite your awesome weather app as evidence of a turnaround before people begin asking what more she's got besides the weather app.
- agibsonccc 13y ago
  Fair enough. I won't get in to a long drawn out battle about it. I should say she's getting people talking about Yahoo again. Relevance is at least a start. You also can't say she's run it in to the ground as of yet either.
  - badclient 13y ago
    Agreed!

fiatmoney 13y ago

Compared to what he's spending his time on now, I'd imagine the idea of seizing a few (or even a bunch of) percentage points of marketshare away from Google / Oracle / Sony / etc. seems rather trivial.

groundCode 13y ago

No - Bill Gates is spending his time doing far more useful things

stewartjarod 13y ago

No. He has been done with that for years. He is happy where he is. The leader of the board.

orionblastar 13y ago

No Bill Gates is done, he is enjoying retirement and giving out vaccinations to people in the third world. Microsoft should just buy out Valve Software to get Gabe Newell back, and then make him the new CEO. Gabe knows how to get stuff done, and he knows how to fix Windows and make great software. Either that or buy out the old Atari in Europe to get Noland Bushnell as CEO of Microsoft. Steve Wozniak is available for CEO as well, he seemed to like the Windows Mobile 8 phones. Marc Andreessen formerly of Netscape has become a Microsoft fan and would make a good CEO.