Guys like Balmer are not motivated by money any more. Balmer had enough money to retire by 1986. Steve Jobs was not motivated by money either. They like competing and trying to make their companies successful.
He's isn't been highly effective in the ways I would have expected from MS, but MS has turned a healthy profit each and every quarter. That in itself should be worth more than $1.37M a year. That said, MS really needs some new blood in the company and I expect this is the beginning of the end of his reign as CEO.
Microsoft continues to ride its profitable current product line and generate both record revenue and operating income. It has been 35 years of success for Microsoft, and as Steve Jobs noted in one of his keynotes, for Apple to succeed, Microsoft doesn't have to fail, in spite of some of the back and forth between the two companies on different issues. The problem that the BoD of Microsoft perceives is that Ballmer has not generated the kind of foward-looking successes in the mobile space they rightly believe is the future of computing, and I think they nailed it. Steve Ballmer still seems to be wedded to the older desktop-bound concept of computing and only sees mobile computing as an extension of that, not as a part of the evolution of computing (true for many here as well).
And before some of you jump on that statement, let me remind you of what Jobs said in his intro to the iPad - desktop computers are like trucks, some of us NEED trucks, but most don't. So if you need a truck, use it. But most consumers just need a zippy little streamlined urban device *WINK* - which is where the iPad is taking a large number of consumers. Sure they can't tow along a huge boat-like package of Photoshop or InDesign or AutoCAD, but they don't need to. If they do they have the "truck" parked at home to get them where they need to go with those loads. But for the everyday routine runs around town - the iPad works just fine.
So Microsoft has enough momentum to continue successfully for at least another decade unless something else comes along that is even more disruptive to the overall computing environments currently in play, and I don't expect to see any sort of significant impact, just a continued erosion in the consumer space, and perhaps some in the corporate mobile space. But the key is to see if Apple can sustain its high profitability over an extended stretch of time - like Microsoft's 35 years. I think they can and will. Horace Deidu has some interesting comparison charts over at asymco showing what things look like right now for Apple and Microsoft, slide on over and take a look if you're interested.
Microsoft pays 19 cents a share a quarter as a dividend. Last I checked Ballmer held something close to 350 milion shares of Microsoft. I am too lazy to figure out what that equals a year, but I am sure the amount is phenomenal. I probably also don't want to know.
In truth, Ballmer shouldn't get paid a dime as the money he is getting paid is meaningless, and he and Gates were responsible for the dividend knowing they'd be getting huge paychecks every quarter. The Board knows his real pay is the dividend based on the amount of shares he has been awarded.
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism
He's isn't been highly effective in the ways I would have expected from MS, but MS has turned a healthy profit each and every quarter. That in itself should be worth more than $1.37M a year. That said, MS really needs some new blood in the company and I expect this is the beginning of the end of his reign as CEO.
I just don't understand. If I was his age and a worth over a billion $$$ I sure wouldn't be spending my time working. I would be travelling constantly, seeing new sights, and truly enjoying the second third or half (who knows) of my life.
Ballmer should be giving back 1.37m instead, seeing as how he does everything backwards.
I'm having trouble with all of the zeros. If he's worth 13900000000, and made 1370000 , what would be the equivalent salary for a middle class guy guy who is worth $100,000?
IOW, it looks to me like $1.3M is a drop in the bucket to him. I'm wondering how small a drop $1.3M is to a guy worth over ten billion.
Are we talking 1% or a fraction of 1%? Somebody who is comfortable with magnitudes please do this in your head.
Microsoft pays 19 cents a share a quarter as a dividend. Last I checked Ballmer held something close to 350 milion shares of Microsoft. I am too lazy to figure out what that equals a year, but I am sure the amount is phenomenal. I probably also don't want to know.
In truth, Ballmer shouldn't get paid a dime as the money he is getting paid is meaningless, and he and Gates were responsible for the dividend knowing they'd be getting huge paychecks every quarter. The Board knows his real pay is the dividend based on the amount of shares he has been awarded.
You must be really lazy... It is 66.5 million dollars.
I just don't understand. If I was his age and a worth over a billion $$$ I sure wouldn't be spending my time working. I would be travelling constantly, seeing new sights, and truly enjoying the second third or half (who knows) of my life.
Wouldn't you folks???
For people like Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, or even Steve Ballmer, the challenge is the reward. Bill Gates moved on to charitable works (as did others before him like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller). Right now Microsoft is being propped up by the products that Gates left the company (Windows and Office, and to some extent games). I'm sure Ballmer won't voluntarily give up the reins until he establishes the company in something else (e.g. mobile, tablets).
I'm having trouble with all of the zeros. If he's worth 13900000000, and made 1370000 , what would be the equivalent salary for a middle class guy guy who is worth $100,000?
IOW, it looks to me like $1.3M is a drop in the bucket to him. I'm wondering how small a drop $1.3M is to a guy worth over ten billion.
Are we talking 1% or a fraction of 1%? Somebody who is comfortable with magnitudes please do this in your head.
1/100%
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism
He's isn't been highly effective in the ways I would have expected from MS, but MS has turned a healthy profit each and every quarter. That in itself should be worth more than $1.37M a year. That said, MS really needs some new blood in the company and I expect this is the beginning of the end of his reign as CEO.
True. Leo Apotheker got $25 million for 11 months "work" in driving HP into the ground, after getting another golden parachute from SAP. Microsoft has largely stagnated for the past decade, but that's partially a transformation of the market from growth to commodity (meaning stagnant financial performance isn't necessarily a bad thing or something easy to accomplish).
That said, I think they could use some new leadership, perhaps from outside the company. They should do some strategic acquisitions (such as what Apple did with Siri) to bring in some new ideas. Windows is a big market, and Windows 8 shows some promise, but it's been a while since the company has really "wowed" the market with anything.
For people like Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, or even Steve Ballmer, the challenge is the reward. Bill Gates moved on to charitable works (as did others before him like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller). Right now Microsoft is being propped up by the products that Gates left the company (Windows and Office, and to some extent games). I'm sure Ballmer won't voluntarily give up the reins until he establishes the company in something else (e.g. mobile, tablets).
I am sure that having "the challenge is the reward" on their tombstone will be a fit reward.
At a certain point people need to take a bit of time to enjoy their lives and see the world versus always working...challenge be damned. A person can always find a challenge.
"Sweaty monkey car sale man need more banana. Make Windows more better."
In all seriousness, he's a nightmare. M$ has done nothing but fail in product launches. Vista. Kin. Windows Phone 7. The slow erosion of Windows PC's dominance. M$ is living on its past products and it's dinosaur PC monopoly. Think about it...what has Ballmer done right other than bean counting? He is one of the most visionless leaders I've ever seen.
This is what sleepwalking looks like. The bottom line is good so they don't change anything.
For me, Microsoft have lacked vision at one of the major turning points in their industry's history. Ballmer laughed at the first iPhone. That showed something. He didn't see what was coming. Dramatically so.
The Zune failed, the Kin failed (to put it mildly), WP7 has so far failed (it remains to be seen if Nokia can help that but Nokia are hardly having their finest hour either right now), Windows Vista was on this guy's watch. In the time since Ballmer took over Apple have overtaken Microsoft in key ways.
Microsoft's biggest product, Office, has virtually no monetized presence on a mobile device as the PC market shrinks. It cannot command the same retail price as it once did on the desktop either.
They have needlessly separated their various architectures so that WP7 bears no resemblance to Windows 7 or Windows Phone 6.5, limiting developer support.
The impression I have of Microsoft right now is of a ship in the fog; it doesn't know where it's going so it just keeps on the same heading and hopes it'll all come good. Apple have clear vision of where they are going. Google seem to, although i suspect they 'wing it' a heck of a lot but they can afford to because of the strength of their core search/advertising business.
Microsoft need vision. They're too corporate. They have the brand and the connections to be a huge player but so far they've looked tired and out of the game since the iPhone and Android came along. Things look ok on the balance sheet right now, but they have got to get back in the game if it's going to stay that way.
They now have a mountain to climb to get people to leave the App Store/Android Market system they have invested in, because they were too late.
We never got the Zune HD over here in the UK (I don't think anyway!) but we're expected to know what Zune means on our Xboxes? What is Zune? It's a stupid name for a service that never had an identity. Is it a player, is it a service? My point is that Microsoft seem completely unaware that nobody has any idea what Zune is outside the US. It just seems incompetent for a company of their size and little things like that make me just feel they lack cohesive, visionary direction at that top.
Windows 8 will be a huge release for them, one way or another. If that bombs, then alarm bells will really ring around Redmond. It will show that Windows has no future on tablets or phones and therefore no platform for Office as the desktop PC fades in importance. They would have to re-engineer much of the company. IF.
I pity you because you never got to experience the joy of squirting stuff at other people using your Zune. Or become part of the Social. Your life is that much poorer as a result...
Oh you could tell from the forced laugh and grimaced smile that he was steaming about being asked about the iPhone on an interview they granted with the aim of promoting their brand. Sounds very much like the false bravado of a person facing imminent defeat.
It always pays to be humble and show some respect for your opponents whether you're beating them or they're beating you.
Comments
The Zune is meant to challenge the iPod, not the iPad, isn't it?
>>>Zune players meant to challenge Apple's iPad.
The Zune is meant to challenge the iPod, not the iPad, isn't it?
I think the Zune is meant to challenge the toilet bowl.
He's isn't been highly effective in the ways I would have expected from MS, but MS has turned a healthy profit each and every quarter. That in itself should be worth more than $1.37M a year. That said, MS really needs some new blood in the company and I expect this is the beginning of the end of his reign as CEO.
Microsoft continues to ride its profitable current product line and generate both record revenue and operating income. It has been 35 years of success for Microsoft, and as Steve Jobs noted in one of his keynotes, for Apple to succeed, Microsoft doesn't have to fail, in spite of some of the back and forth between the two companies on different issues. The problem that the BoD of Microsoft perceives is that Ballmer has not generated the kind of foward-looking successes in the mobile space they rightly believe is the future of computing, and I think they nailed it. Steve Ballmer still seems to be wedded to the older desktop-bound concept of computing and only sees mobile computing as an extension of that, not as a part of the evolution of computing (true for many here as well).
And before some of you jump on that statement, let me remind you of what Jobs said in his intro to the iPad - desktop computers are like trucks, some of us NEED trucks, but most don't. So if you need a truck, use it. But most consumers just need a zippy little streamlined urban device *WINK* - which is where the iPad is taking a large number of consumers. Sure they can't tow along a huge boat-like package of Photoshop or InDesign or AutoCAD, but they don't need to. If they do they have the "truck" parked at home to get them where they need to go with those loads. But for the everyday routine runs around town - the iPad works just fine.
So Microsoft has enough momentum to continue successfully for at least another decade unless something else comes along that is even more disruptive to the overall computing environments currently in play, and I don't expect to see any sort of significant impact, just a continued erosion in the consumer space, and perhaps some in the corporate mobile space. But the key is to see if Apple can sustain its high profitability over an extended stretch of time - like Microsoft's 35 years. I think they can and will. Horace Deidu has some interesting comparison charts over at asymco showing what things look like right now for Apple and Microsoft, slide on over and take a look if you're interested.
Hope they never fire him.
Dude, this totally made me laugh. Thanks for that! Great way to start the day.
In truth, Ballmer shouldn't get paid a dime as the money he is getting paid is meaningless, and he and Gates were responsible for the dividend knowing they'd be getting huge paychecks every quarter. The Board knows his real pay is the dividend based on the amount of shares he has been awarded.
He's isn't been highly effective in the ways I would have expected from MS, but MS has turned a healthy profit each and every quarter. That in itself should be worth more than $1.37M a year. That said, MS really needs some new blood in the company and I expect this is the beginning of the end of his reign as CEO.
Wouldn't you folks???
Ballmer should be giving back 1.37m instead, seeing as how he does everything backwards.
I'm having trouble with all of the zeros. If he's worth 13900000000, and made 1370000 , what would be the equivalent salary for a middle class guy guy who is worth $100,000?
IOW, it looks to me like $1.3M is a drop in the bucket to him. I'm wondering how small a drop $1.3M is to a guy worth over ten billion.
Are we talking 1% or a fraction of 1%? Somebody who is comfortable with magnitudes please do this in your head.
Microsoft pays 19 cents a share a quarter as a dividend. Last I checked Ballmer held something close to 350 milion shares of Microsoft. I am too lazy to figure out what that equals a year, but I am sure the amount is phenomenal. I probably also don't want to know.
In truth, Ballmer shouldn't get paid a dime as the money he is getting paid is meaningless, and he and Gates were responsible for the dividend knowing they'd be getting huge paychecks every quarter. The Board knows his real pay is the dividend based on the amount of shares he has been awarded.
You must be really lazy...
I think most average educated office workers that use an iPhone or iPad definitely wants to be able to use a Mac at work.
Naw. If that were true, they would use a Mac at home. And almost nobody does.
You must be really lazy...
I just don't understand. If I was his age and a worth over a billion $$$ I sure wouldn't be spending my time working. I would be travelling constantly, seeing new sights, and truly enjoying the second third or half (who knows) of my life.
Wouldn't you folks???
For people like Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, or even Steve Ballmer, the challenge is the reward. Bill Gates moved on to charitable works (as did others before him like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller). Right now Microsoft is being propped up by the products that Gates left the company (Windows and Office, and to some extent games). I'm sure Ballmer won't voluntarily give up the reins until he establishes the company in something else (e.g. mobile, tablets).
I'm having trouble with all of the zeros. If he's worth 13900000000, and made 1370000 , what would be the equivalent salary for a middle class guy guy who is worth $100,000?
IOW, it looks to me like $1.3M is a drop in the bucket to him. I'm wondering how small a drop $1.3M is to a guy worth over ten billion.
Are we talking 1% or a fraction of 1%? Somebody who is comfortable with magnitudes please do this in your head.
1/100%
He's isn't been highly effective in the ways I would have expected from MS, but MS has turned a healthy profit each and every quarter. That in itself should be worth more than $1.37M a year. That said, MS really needs some new blood in the company and I expect this is the beginning of the end of his reign as CEO.
True. Leo Apotheker got $25 million for 11 months "work" in driving HP into the ground, after getting another golden parachute from SAP. Microsoft has largely stagnated for the past decade, but that's partially a transformation of the market from growth to commodity (meaning stagnant financial performance isn't necessarily a bad thing or something easy to accomplish).
That said, I think they could use some new leadership, perhaps from outside the company. They should do some strategic acquisitions (such as what Apple did with Siri) to bring in some new ideas. Windows is a big market, and Windows 8 shows some promise, but it's been a while since the company has really "wowed" the market with anything.
For people like Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, or even Steve Ballmer, the challenge is the reward. Bill Gates moved on to charitable works (as did others before him like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller). Right now Microsoft is being propped up by the products that Gates left the company (Windows and Office, and to some extent games). I'm sure Ballmer won't voluntarily give up the reins until he establishes the company in something else (e.g. mobile, tablets).
I am sure that having "the challenge is the reward" on their tombstone will be a fit reward.
At a certain point people need to take a bit of time to enjoy their lives and see the world versus always working...challenge be damned. A person can always find a challenge.
"Sweaty monkey car sale man need more banana. Make Windows more better."
In all seriousness, he's a nightmare. M$ has done nothing but fail in product launches. Vista. Kin. Windows Phone 7. The slow erosion of Windows PC's dominance. M$ is living on its past products and it's dinosaur PC monopoly. Think about it...what has Ballmer done right other than bean counting? He is one of the most visionless leaders I've ever seen.
Man, I'm enjoying this.
This is what sleepwalking looks like. The bottom line is good so they don't change anything.
For me, Microsoft have lacked vision at one of the major turning points in their industry's history. Ballmer laughed at the first iPhone. That showed something. He didn't see what was coming. Dramatically so.
The Zune failed, the Kin failed (to put it mildly), WP7 has so far failed (it remains to be seen if Nokia can help that but Nokia are hardly having their finest hour either right now), Windows Vista was on this guy's watch. In the time since Ballmer took over Apple have overtaken Microsoft in key ways.
Microsoft's biggest product, Office, has virtually no monetized presence on a mobile device as the PC market shrinks. It cannot command the same retail price as it once did on the desktop either.
They have needlessly separated their various architectures so that WP7 bears no resemblance to Windows 7 or Windows Phone 6.5, limiting developer support.
The impression I have of Microsoft right now is of a ship in the fog; it doesn't know where it's going so it just keeps on the same heading and hopes it'll all come good. Apple have clear vision of where they are going. Google seem to, although i suspect they 'wing it' a heck of a lot but they can afford to because of the strength of their core search/advertising business.
Microsoft need vision. They're too corporate. They have the brand and the connections to be a huge player but so far they've looked tired and out of the game since the iPhone and Android came along. Things look ok on the balance sheet right now, but they have got to get back in the game if it's going to stay that way.
They now have a mountain to climb to get people to leave the App Store/Android Market system they have invested in, because they were too late.
We never got the Zune HD over here in the UK (I don't think anyway!) but we're expected to know what Zune means on our Xboxes? What is Zune? It's a stupid name for a service that never had an identity. Is it a player, is it a service? My point is that Microsoft seem completely unaware that nobody has any idea what Zune is outside the US. It just seems incompetent for a company of their size and little things like that make me just feel they lack cohesive, visionary direction at that top.
Windows 8 will be a huge release for them, one way or another. If that bombs, then alarm bells will really ring around Redmond. It will show that Windows has no future on tablets or phones and therefore no platform for Office as the desktop PC fades in importance. They would have to re-engineer much of the company. IF.
I pity you because you never got to experience the joy of squirting stuff at other people using your Zune. Or become part of the Social. Your life is that much poorer as a result...
Churlish or not, I think it's time to remind people of this!
Ballmer laughs at the iPhone
Oh you could tell from the forced laugh and grimaced smile that he was steaming about being asked about the iPhone on an interview they granted with the aim of promoting their brand. Sounds very much like the false bravado of a person facing imminent defeat.
It always pays to be humble and show some respect for your opponents whether you're beating them or they're beating you.