Microsoft CEO Bids Tearful Goodbye to Employees

[roseofbattle]

Microsoft CEO Bids Tearful Goodbye to Employees

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Steve Ballmer dances, screams, and cries in his final company meeting as the Microsoft CEO.

Opinions on Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer are divided, but I think we can all agree that he's passionate about Microsoft, from running across stages to loudly declaring his love for the company. In his final meeting as CEO, Ballmer delivered an hour-long speech to Microsoft employees, saying his goodbyes.

Ballmer played Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Something," the song he played at his first company meeting in 1983. He danced, jumped, and screamed, "The sound of Microsoft!" according to The Verge. He paused after the song, and told the thousands of Microsoft employees in attendance with tears in his eyes, "You work for the greatest company in the world, soak it in." He went on to thank the employees and praise the company. "This isn't about any one person. It's about a company that's important, that's forward-thinking, that's innovative."

Ballmer ended his speech with another song and dance as he yelled, "I've had the time of my life!" along to Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes' classic song, "(I've Had) The Time of My Life." Employees screamed, "We love you!" as they cheered on Ballmer.

Microsoft has not announced who Ballmer's successor will be, though plenty of rumors are circulating as to who it could be. Ballmer will remain the CEO until the company declares who will next have the position. Ballmer initially announced his retirement [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/127121-Microsofts-Steve-Ballmer-To-Retire-In-12-Months ] from Microsoft in August.

Source: The Verge [http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/26/4774746/steve-ballmer-microsoft-company-meeting-final-speech]

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[Andy Shandy]

You know, if this was anyone other than Ballmer, I would've thought this was somebody taking the piss.

But this guy?

I could totally see that happening.

Shine on, you absolute lunatic.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

And the reaction from me was:


Good Riddance, at least your stupid ideas helped hasten MS's downfall.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

As much as I don't know a great deal about his prowess as a CEO (beyond that it wasn't that great), I admire how passionate he is, and he seems like a nice enough chap. Not enough business types seem really give enough of a shit about their companies beyond making money, I suppose this is what comes of the guy being in the company since it was tiny.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

No matter who replaces him, they won't have the truculence and borderline psychotic attachment to the company's established goals that he had. That may actually be a good thing - MS needs to be helmed by someone who understand that the company's previous position as the king of the office and it's desire to dominate the living room are both increasingly hard to either reach or maintain. Linux and things like the upcoming SteamOS and gamer-friendly Linux distros are changing the playing field for the first time in some 30 years.

MS couldn't even make a dent in the smartphone market!

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

He reminds me of that one guy in those PS3 adverts.

Kevin Butler, he's the one!(Well, Jerry Lambert, but the persona still counts)


Actually only a little bit, Ballmer seems a bit more wacky.

I suppose it's kind of bad that he's leaving? I know that he recently bought out Nokia, but other than that I don't know for what else he was responsible for.

IF he was responsible for the Xbone, then shine on you crazy diamond, perhaps you will find people who want always on DRM on their entertainment devices.

 

[Hagi]

As much as I don't know a great deal about his prowess as a CEO (beyond that it wasn't that great), I admire how passionate he is, and he seems like a nice enough chap. Not enough business types seem really give enough of a shit about their companies beyond making money, I suppose this is what comes of the guy being in the company since it was tiny.

He cared about his company so much he tried NOT to make money

Not on the consumer market. He pulled in a LOT of dough on the corporate market though.

He fucked up a lot of stuff. But when it came to getting most of the corporate world to use Microsoft products?

If you want to know why every company wants their attachments in .docx format, why they want their websites IE8-compatible, why experience with Microsoft Office, especially Excel, is something you can actually put on your CV etc.

Look at this guy. And yes, most of that stuff probably isn't for the good of mankind, but it did earn Microsoft a lot of money.

 

[faefrost]

As much as I don't know a great deal about his prowess as a CEO (beyond that it wasn't that great), I admire how passionate he is, and he seems like a nice enough chap. Not enough business types seem really give enough of a shit about their companies beyond making money, I suppose this is what comes of the guy being in the company since it was tiny.

Sat through a few meetings my bosses (a major PC manufacturer) had with him in the 90's. "Nice enough chap" is not the description I would use. He is a living breathing Dilbert character.

 

[Glaice]

Good, can we have a CEO that's in his 30s and is in touch with the 16-35 crowd and knows more about games now? Not gonna miss Ballmer one bit I'm afraid.

 

[antigodoflife]

Good, can we have a CEO that's in his 30s and is in touch with the 16-35 crowd and knows more about games now? Not gonna miss Ballmer one bit I'm afraid.

That's not really his job, that was Don Mattrick's job before he left for Zynga and there's a much more likely Ballmer will be replaced by someone well in to their 40s.

I on the other hand will miss Ballmer because he was good at his job. As CEO, he was in charge of Microsoft's company finances, which during his tenure kept Microsoft as one of only FOUR AAA Standard companies in the entirety of America and made sure that every business in the world chose Microsoft as their company's computer of choice; which until 2007 was the case.

Unfortunately, the man was erratic, rumoured to react melodramatic, sometimes violent towards some of his empolyees, like in the famous Lucovsky incident and it was his erratic behavious and "impulsive" decisions in his later years (last year) that made him retire. My guess was the guy completely burntout and needs an early retirement, working as hard as he did for as long as he did would make anyone insane.

 

[ThunderCavalier]

Honestly, the guy sounds like a great guy, if a bit misguided. Kinda reminds me of Peter Molyneux in that regard.

Hope the guy does well whereever he ends up, and that the new CEO sees how badly they've screwed up the Xbox One and tries to somehow recover.

 

[Evil Smurf]

I'm hoping Gaben becomes the new CEO.

 

[Kurt Cristal]

This needed to be posted.

He was one heck of a guy for energy at the conferences.

 

[lacktheknack]

The "I've Had the Time of My Life" bit was the best thing I've read all day.

Sat through a few meetings my bosses (a major PC manufacturer) had with him in the 90's. "Nice enough chap" is not the description I would use. He is a living breathing Dilbert character.

And somehow, this made it even better.

 

[Skeleon]

He sounds insane, but at least he seems to value his employees. Well, says he does. Dunno how he was as a CEO, though, he may have been the most exploitative asshole out there or one of the best, most employee-friendly guys in charge ever for all I know.

 

[Strazdas]

Of course you had time of your life, you just did what you wanted and trolled everyone.

Say what you want, but he was one of those guys that would make you laugh all the time even if by sheer stupidity of his actions. he was special. for better or worse. we need more people like that, instead of numbercrunching suits. he did mistakes, we called it on him, but he definitely was passionate.

I hate him as well as loved him with everyone, but this... i think ill actually miss him. MS wont be the same without Ballmer.