Steve Ballmer has faced longstanding criticism probably more than any CEO in America. And now there's this: Forbes writer rates him as CEO who deserves more than being fired.
Adam Hartung, a contributor to Forbes, pulls no punches in because he believes that Ballmer should be fired, writing in part:
"Undoubtedly, Mr Ballmer is the worst CEO of big American company listed today. Not only drove for him only Microsoft out of some of the fastest growing tech markets and more profitable (mobile music, mobile phones and tablets) but in the process he has sacrificed the growth and profits not only your company, but companies of "ecosystem" as Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Nokia. The scope of its bad leadership has extended well beyond the Microsoft when it comes to the destruction of shareholder value-and jobs. "He cites the Vista and Zune fiaschi, delayed product launches and company falling into mobile as examples of his failures and Microsoft shares at $ 60 a share in 2000 when Ballmer took over and now typically trades in the low $ 30s.
Then he writes:
"Years late to the market, he has bet the company on Windows 8-as well as the future of Dell, HP, Nokia and others. A crazy bet for any CEO-and what could have avoided completely had the Microsoft Board of Directors replaced Mr. Ballmer years ago with a CEO who understands the rapid pace of changes in technology and would have kept the current Microsoft with market trends. "In recent years, there have been other calls for firing or resignation of Ballmer. A year ago, influential hedge fund manager David Einhorn said Ballmer should resign, saying his continued presence is the biggest bump on Microsoft stock. " In September 2010, Ballmer received only half of his bonus possible due to errors related to Kin, mobile phones and tablets. On site Glassdoor.com, Microsoft employees have evaluated Ballmer as the worst tech CEO.
As GeekWire points out, however, Ballmer also had some successes, including SharePoint, Microsoft Office, SQL Server and Windows Server and the Commerce of the Xbox.
This is true, but the errors of Ballmer will exceed its achievements, particularly in mobile. If he is America's worst CEO can't say. But most of the measures, under his leadership standing in Microsoft worldwide tech are worsened, not reinforced.
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