Microsoft Investors Call For Bill Gates To Step Down As Chairman 218
rjmarvin writes "Now that Ballmer is on his way out, flak for Microsoft's middling stock prices and lagging mobile innovation is starting to land on Bill Gates himself. Three of the company's top 20 investors are lobbying the Board of Directors, pressing Gates to step down as chairman. The stockholders believe his presence would handcuff the next CEO's ability to re-make the company with new strategies and sweeping changes. They also think Gates wields a disproportionate amount of power relative to his financial stake and day-to-day activity within the company. No word yet from Gates or the board on this internal strife."
Power grab (Score:5, Interesting)
When the investors take over the company, beware. This is what happened to HP.
A titular role only? (Score:4, Interesting)
Bill Gates is chairman in name only, is he not?
This would seem fitting since it is the company that be he built....it's kind of shitty to force people out of the thing they made.
Alternatively, perhaps Bill Gates will be to Microsoft as the Schwartzes were to Grey Matter...
Fools (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Or prevent them... (Score:4, Interesting)
yeah.. just put elop as the chairman, see how it goes.
guaranteed that within 2 years he has sold the company to oracle(if you use stupid counting system then windows is a "burning platform" that needs to be ditched asap..).
thing with gates is that he has so much money he isn't tempted to butcher the company for some cash. put someone else in charge with even lesser share of the company and no personal interest in the company and he'll start looking for how to extract cash for himself.. and that actually screws the shareholders(common shareholders) a lot more.
Re:Power grab (Score:3, Interesting)
There's somethign to be said for keeping the founder at the helm but in the case of Microsoft I do believe Gates is part of the problem. I worked there from the mid-90's to the mid-2000's and a lot of the cultural problems started with Gates. They only became apparent with Ballmer because exponential growth came to a halt but they were there. Not to mention that without Gates' support Ballmer would never have lasted as long as he did.
Re: Bill Gates' response: (Score:4, Interesting)
It's not about plotters, he doesn't HOLD A STAKE in the company that deserves as much power as he holds. They are correct to replace Gates before even looking at Balmer's replacement as Gates hasn't held Balmer's feet to the fire nearly hard enough in the last 7-10 years.
Re: Bill Gates' response: (Score:4, Interesting)
Exactly. Bill owns about 4.5% of the stock ... the people trying to oust him control about 5%.
Bill Gates is essentially a minority shareholder, but exercises clout like he still owns half the company.
And maybe people are thinking that if Ballmer is going, this is a perfect time to put the company in the hands of someone beholden to the shareholders, instead of Bill Gates. And, long term, it's hard to argue with that.
Re: Bill Gates' response: (Score:3, Interesting)
5% is not a minority share holder.
And the Top 20 own 5%, not the three trying to oust him.
Re: Bill Gates' response: (Score:5, Interesting)
Bill will prevent a new CEO that "remakes" the company via massive layoffs to save costs - which has never once worked to "turn around" a software company, but no one ever seems to learn that. Presumably the activist board members want just that, not realizing it would kill the company in a few years, or perhaps not caring (hey, what's 100k jobs gone if I can boost the stock 10% before it crashes - we'll know when to exit). Heck, even as an old school /.er I find it hard to root for potlatch on that scale.
Bill had a pretty good track record for the shareholders during his tenure - all the same things than made /. create it's own special icon for him. Makes me wonder if the heart of the dispute is as cynical as the above, or something more interesting.
[ BTW: If you're new to the game: "synergy" means "layoffs" and "turnaround CEO" means "lay off most everyone". Look for those terms in a merger near you (and run). ]
Re:Fools (Score:5, Interesting)
As much as I disagree with his business tactics over the years, Gates is a freaking genius.
I'm not sure whether he's a genius, but I had a lot more respect for him once I read this [joelonsoftware.com], which is Joel Spolsky's first-hand account of working for the man. He wasn't necessarily a genius, but he was a very effective combination of ruthless businessman and smart technical guy.