Admirers say that this is only to be expected from someone who has had no adult supervision since his teenage years, and who, because of his sheer genius, has never had to play by the rules most of us are forced to learn.
A loose generalization might be that those who see Gates in situations where he is not the one in control are less forgiving. But what worked so well when the company was young and small carried the seeds of future problems. Maybe Gates and Ballmer could get away with it. But when people three levels down are acting that way, it is not pleasant.
Many people liken the relationship between Ballmer and Gates to a marriage. In , Ballmer described the relationship in his own way to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. No one will ever know for sure what would have happened to Microsoft if Gates had stuck around. As the billions of dollars he invested in new ventures failed to show any return, even investors who thought Microsoft should be trying to keep up got increasingly dissatisfied.
Then there was another set of investors, who wanted Microsoft to slim down and pay out its cash hoard to them. There was even a period when he refused to meet with them, and their dislike of him became visceral. Ballmer often said that he wanted to stay as C. But he says today that that changed. He says that he even began interviewing outside C.
At the same time, the pressure was building. The heavily hyped next iteration of Windows, Windows 8, which launched in , was regarded as a flop. There was clearly a feeling that the board had been neutered for long enough. But there was no sign either inside or outside that change at the top was imminent. Indeed, Ballmer seemed to have no intention of leaving when he announced a massive reorganization of the entire company in July Behind the scenes he had also begun negotiating an acquisition that was meant to transform Microsoft.
He had become convinced that the company had to make hardware too. The reason why goes back to his chart. To Ballmer, the message was clear, and so, in December , he began talking to the Finnish smartphone-maker, Nokia, whose C.
There was a defensive reason for the deal as well as an offensive one. Nokia was pretty much the only company left that was making Windows phones. But on August 23, , came the stunning announcement that Ballmer would retire. Unlike most big companies, which announce a new C. But there is another version of the story. On the board, the Nokia acquisition, according to several sources, became increasingly controversial as the clock ticked.
At the same time he became utterly convinced that Microsoft had to buy Nokia. For Ballmer, it seems, the unforgivable thing was that Gates had been part of the coup, which Ballmer saw as the ultimate betrayal.
Ballmer erupted in a fit of rage. The board told Ballmer they wanted him to stay, he says, and they did eventually agree to a slightly different version of the deal.
The board finally realized the downside: without Nokia, Microsoft was effectively done in the smartphone business. But, for Ballmer, the damage was done, in more ways than one. He now says it became clear to him that despite the lack of a new C. As a source close to Microsoft says, no one, including Gates, tried to stop him from quitting. The discord between Gates and Ballmer, both of whom were still on the board, did not make for a pleasant search for a new C.
Just consider the other ingredients: Disagreement over whether the new C. Disagreement over whether or not an outsider was needed. A board that felt it had been in thrall to the former C. A former C. And the incredible difficulty of finding a person who both could and would want to run Microsoft. Initially, there was some consensus around Alan Mulally, then C. But Mulally felt that he should not be required to go through a formal process of interviewing for the job, according to several sources, and the board began to have doubts.
The board had also been interested in Steve Mollenkopf, the chief operating officer of Qualcomm, but less than 24 hours after Bloomberg News reported that he was a candidate, Qualcomm responded by naming him its C. Another potential candidate was Paul Maritz, a former top Microsoft executive who had gone on to key jobs at other technology companies.
But in ex-Microsoft circles, the story is that Maritz felt that Microsoft was too far behind in too many critical battles, and would have to slim down and make choices. As the search wore on, the stress increased.
Gates said, with some emotion, that he would not support Thompson, and that Nadella would be a better pick. But eventually Nadella emerged as the top internal candidate. Mark Weinberger vanished and his wife Michelle Kramer has no idea where he is.
Weinberger's story is a dark and twisted tale of greed and power that leaves Michelle in tears and an entire town in horror. He is America's most-wanted "Runaway Doctor. A headless torso washes ashore. A mob's daughter is executed mob-style. A millionaire's young wife vanishes. Some believe that one man knows exactly what happened to all three victims. He is "The Fugitive Heir. Lisl Auman is locked in a police car when a cop is gunned down.
Still, she is convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. When political activist Madalyn Murray O'Hair mysteriously disappears, she'll touch off one of the most baffling missing persons cases in American history-a case full of strange clues, false leads, and lethal suspects. A woman is left for dead. When the case goes cold, private investigator Ken Brennan is hired to find out exactly what happened.
His investigation uncovers disturbing clues and sets off a hunt for a man who preys on women nationwide. Christophe Rocancourt. Charming, cunning, French, and an imposter. When he crosses paths with police investigator George Mueller, they begin a cat and mouse game that leaves officials wondering what it will take to stop the Frenchman dead in his tracks. An all-American soldier is found bludgeoned to death. The Army calls it a fight that went too far. But investigators discover a shocking story that starts with a nightclub showgirl and ends with two men behind bars.
Gabriel Byrne The Marquess of Steyne. Romola Garai Amelia Sedley. Bob Hoskins Sir Pitt Crawley. Rhys Ifans William Dobbin. Geraldine McEwan Lady Southdown. James Purefoy Rawdon Crawley. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers George Osborne. Eileen Atkins Miss Matilda Crawley.
Tony Maudsley Joseph Sedley. Douglas Hodge Pitt Crawley. Roger Lloyd-Pack Francis Sharp. Ruth Sheen Miss Pinkerton. Kate Fleetwood Miss Pinkerton's Crone.
Lillette Dubey Ms. Paul Bazely Biju. Charlie Beall Gambler. Tim Preece Horrocks. Natasha Little Lady Jane Sheepshanks. Kathryn Drysdale Rhoda Swartz. Kelly Hunter Lady Steyne. Camilla Rutherford Lady Gaunt. Alexandra Staden Lady George. Tim Seely Doctor. Sophie Hunter Maria Osborne.
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