Steve Ballmer quitte le conseil d’administration de Microsoft

Steve Ballmer a envoyé sa lettre de démission de Microsoft et va donc complètement quitter l’entreprise pour se consacrer au basket.

C’est presque 6 mois après avoir laissé sa place de PDG de Microsoft à Satya Nadella que Steve Ballmer vient d’envoyer sa démission. Steve avait été recruté par Bill Gates en 1980 au sein de Microsoft et avait été promu PDG de l’entreprise en 2000. Depuis le mois de février dernier l’ex PDG occupait un siège au conseil d’administration de Microsoft.

Steve Ballmer aimerait maintenant se consacrer à son équipe de basket (il est propriétaire des Los Angeles Clippers). Il est également actif dans l’enseignement. Il estime que ces deux occupations seront largement suffisante et il aimerait pleinement se concentrer dessus.

Dans sa lettre de démission Steve a affirmé une nouvelle fois son soutien au PDG actuel qui vient d’entrer dans une phase difficile après l’annonce d’un plan d’assainissement de Microsoft avec la suppression de 18’000 postes de travail. Steve a également rappelé qu’il détient plus d’actions Microsoft que quiconque, il a même plus d’action que Bill Gates, ce qui lui permet de garder un certain pouvoir décisionnel sur Microsoft.

Je vous invite à découvrir la lettre de démission (en anglais) ci-dessous:

Dear Satya,

As I approach the six month mark of my retirement and your appointment as CEO, I have been reflecting on my life, my ongoing ownership of Microsoft stock, and my involvement with the company. I have reached some conclusions and wanted to share them with you. I know August is the key month during which the company starts to prepare the proxy statement for the next shareholders’ meeting, and so these thoughts are probably timely for that too.

First, Microsoft has been my life’s work and I am proud of that and excited by what I see in front of the company and this leadership team. There are challenges ahead but the opportunities are even larger. No company in the world has the mix of software skills, cloud skills, and hardware skills we have assembled. We draw talent as well as any company in the world. We have the profitability to invest in long-term opportunities and still deliver superior shorter term performance. You’re off to a bold and exciting start.

Microsoft will need to be bold and make big bets to succeed in this new environment. Writing great software is a tremendous accomplishment and selling software has been a fabulous business. In the mobile-first, cloud-first world, software development is a key skill, but success requires moving to monetization through enterprise subscriptions, hardware gross margins, and advertising revenues. Making that change while also managing the existing software business well requires a boldness and fearlessness that I believe the management team has. Our board must also support and encourage that fearlessness for shareholders to get the best performance from Microsoft. You must drive that.

I had not spent any time really contemplating my post-Microsoft life until my last day with the company. In the six months since leaving, I have become very busy. I see a combination of the Clippers, civic contribution, teaching and study taking a lot of time. I have confidence in our approach of mobile-first, cloud-first, and in our primary innovation emphasis on platforms and productivity and the building of capability in devices and services as core business drivers. I hold more Microsoft shares than anyone other than index funds and love the mix of profits, investments and dividends returned in our stock. I expect to continue holding that position for the foreseeable future.

Given my confidence and the multitude of new commitments I am taking on now, I think it would be impractical for me to continue to serve on the board, and it is best for me to move off. The fall will be hectic between teaching a new class and the start of the NBA season so my departure from the board is effective immediately.

I bleed Microsoft —have for 34 years and I always will. I continue to love discussing the company’s future. I love trying new products and sending feedback. I love reading about what is going on at the company. Count on me to keep ideas and inputs flowing. The company will move to higher heights. I will be proud, and I will benefit through my share ownership. I promise to support and encourage boldness by management in my role as a shareholder in any way I can.

All the best,

Steve

C’est une page qui se tourne car Steve était quand même un sacré personnage 🙂

http://youtu.be/e8M6S8EKbnU

Même si Steve était moins populaire que Bill Gates il a quand même rondement mené la barque et l’entreprise a su garder le cap. Reste à voir maintenant sil il va pouvoir faire des Los Angeles Clippers les prochains champions de NBA.