If a few hours ago we were talking about Ray Kurzweil, the mastermind behind many of the most important predictions in the history of modern technology, now it’s Steve Ballmer’s turn, someone who has been accused of being a “loudmouth” for making predictions that haven’t come true. Not even remotely. He wasn’t the only one to predict Apple’s failure with the iPhone: Larry Ellison did the same by saying that If he didn’t “personally” take care of Apple, it would go under.
However, Ballmer went much further: he thought Steve Jobs was making a big mistake and would go bankrupt. In an interview with the BBC, Tony Fadell, one of the first members of the iPhone development team and founder of Nest, recalled his harsh note: “not a very good messaging machine.” The reason? It had no buttons. An interesting toy for business customers, but nothing for the average citizen: $500 was too high.
However, today we are talking about the mobile brand
Ballmer was wrong: we already have 15 iPhones and 35 more models
New century, new rules. It was in 200 that Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, decided to step down as CEO to focus more on the technical side and his philanthropic foundation. He had been thinking about it for a while. Steve Ballmer, who was a close friend of Gates’ from his days at Harvard and had worked at Microsoft since 1980, assumed the role of CEO.
But the role came at a high cost. The historical context of this change is interesting. During the “eternal” 1998, Microsoft faced several challenges, including accusations of monopolistic practices by the United States government. Gates, under pressure, decided that the time had come to hand over leadership to Ballmer, who had strong management and business experience.
The reality is that during the Ballmer era, Microsoft has had several ups and downs, some of which directly tarnished the company’s public image. Yes, there were successes like the growth of the server and tools division, but also notable flops like Windows Vista and the Zune player.
But the worst part is that Ballmer sidestepped “the smartphone and tablet revolution,” allowing competitors like Apple and Google to take over. When his namesake Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone in 2007, the then-CEO of Microsoft burst out laughing.
Why did ex-Steve Ballmer mock the iPhone? Mainly for the price, but also for not having any buttons. Steve Jobs trusted the idea like an oracle: “they’ll get used to it.” And he was right. Your perfect phone would be buttonless.
Ballmer continues to be an excellent negotiator
When Apple found out about Ballmer’s mockery, they responded to the joke and made fun of him as well. Unsurprisingly, before Satya Nadella admitted this fact a decade later, Microsoft co-founder and former CEO, Bill Gates said that “the biggest mistake ever made” was that Microsoft lost its position compared to Google’s Android.
Because yes, Windows Mobile would come later, but this operating system was neither as intuitive nor as functional. Ballmer also spoke out years later: “I miss that period in the early 2000s when we were so focused on what we had to do with Windows Vista
But Ballmer was very smart. When he left his CEO position, he already had $100 billion in assets. Since 2014, he has been buying more and more Microsoft shares and by 2021, he was the ninth richest person in the world. Today, he has almost $160 billion in his pocket. And he is not only the sixth richest, he is also a bold dealmaker because he signed this, as a “business leader”, would receive a 10% growth in profits generated plus an annual salary of $50,000. That was his ticket to the world podium. In short, he will not be a great oracle, but he will be a brilliant negotiator.
Images | Flickr (Long Zheng, Dan Farber)
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