Is Microsoft a Buy After These Events?

A = A-Level Management Runs the Company?

Steve Ballmer joined Microsoft in 1980 as the first business manager hired by Bill Gates. He later became the CEO in 2000. However, his tenure at the the company is already too long according to many. Earlier this year, Ballmer was named the worst CEO of a large publicly traded American company by Forbes.

Adam Hartung explains, “Not only has he single-handedly steered Microsoft out of some of the fastest growing and most lucrative tech markets (mobile music, handsets and tablets) but in the process he has sacrificed the growth and profits of not only his company but ‘ecosystem’ companies such as Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPQ) and even Nokia (NYSE:NOK).”

The company also delivered another complication for investors looking at Microsoft’s management team. Steven Sinofsky, a 23-year veteran at Microsoft who was widely presumed to be a favorite for the chief executive’s position in the near future and was the man behind the company’s recently launched Windows 8 operating system, has left the software maker. The move was completely unexpected and many are wondering if it was part of a process by current chief executive Steve Ballmer to get a firmer hold on the company. Ballmer reportedly told employees in a memo on Monday that: “Steven Sinofsky has decided to leave the company.” Through a media statement he later added that it was “imperative that we continue to drive alignment across all Microsoft teams, and have more integrated and rapid development cycles for our offerings.”