Exclusive Interview: Steve Ballmer on His Retirement as Microsoft CEO

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Monica Langleys exklusives Interview mit Steve Ballmer:

Microsoft lagged behind Apple Inc. AAPL -0.60% and Google Inc. GOOG -0.16% in important consumer markets, despite its formidable software revenue. Mr. Ballmer tried to spell out his plan to remake Microsoft, but a director cut him off, telling him he was moving too slowly.
„Hey, dude, let’s get on with it,“ lead director John Thompson says he told him. „We’re in suspended animation.“ Mr. Ballmer says he replied that he could move faster.

„Maybe I’m an emblem of an old era, and I have to move on,“ the 57-year-old Mr. Ballmer says, pausing as his eyes well up. „As much as I love everything about what I’m doing,“ he says, „the best way for Microsoft to enter a new era is a new leader who will accelerate change.“

The board’s beef was speed. The directors „didn’t push Steve to step down,“ says Mr. Thompson, a longtime technology executive who heads the board’s CEO-search committee, „but we were pushing him damn hard to go faster.“

Bei Microsoft stehen einschneidende Veränderungen bevor. Steve Ballmer Rückzug ist erst der Anfang. Viele Führungskräfte werden noch ausgetauscht, damit der Konzern sich erneuern kann. Es wird kein Stein auf dem anderen bleiben – das ist sein Vermächtnis.