Microsoft Corporation’s board of directors have stood behind Steve Ballmer (CEO), after hedge fund manager David Einhorn recently called for his dismissal due to what he described as Mr. Ballmer’s ‘Charlie Brown’ management in not being competitive enough over other leading software and hardware IT giants such as Apple.
Microsoft’s nine-person board, including chairman and co-founder Bill Gates, support Ballmer according to one inside source within the company, although Microsoft itself has declined to comment.
Gates, who co-founded the software company in 1975 and is still the largest shareholder with 6.6 per cent of the company’s stock is major influence as the person who could make any final decision to switch management. “Bill Gates is a ruthless capitalist. If he wanted to, he’d walk Ballmer to the door himself,” said one fund manager.
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