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Ballmer, IBM Surprised By Oracle-Sun Deal

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i-didn't-see-it-coming dept.

Geon Lasli writes "Reporters caught up with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in Moscow to get his take on Oracle's deal to buy Sun Microsystems for US$7.4 billion. Ballmer was at a loss for words: 'I need to think about it. I am very surprised.' According to a source, IBM hadn't given up on purchasing Sun and was blindsided by Oracle's move. I guess IBM must be regretting playing tough 2 weeks ago. Unknown to outsiders, Sun had probably found the Oracle lifeboat before they decided to pull the plug on the deal."

8 of 324 comments (clear)

  1. I Feel His Pain by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Funny

    You see, Ballmer was supposed to get up at 3am and bid $7,400,000,001.00 for Sun on CorporateBay.com. Instead he just threw a chair at his alarm clock and went back to sleep.

    Same thing happened to me with a $1.5 thousand Rickenbacker 4003 bass two weeks ago. And now I regret not having that sweet sweet axe in my hands right now just as much as Ballmer regrets not being able to fire whole divisions when their managers don't know the entire lyrics to American Pie by Don McLean. We're both only human, buddy.

    --
    My work here is dung.
  2. Is this good? by nicolas.kassis · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can really decide if I like the fact that Oracle is going to be bullying Microsoft going forward or hate the fact that Oracle is probably more evil than Microsoft now.

    1. Re:Is this good? by nschubach · · Score: 4, Funny

      I just hate everyone. It makes everything much easier.

      --
      Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
  3. OH yes.. by RulerOf · · Score: 5, Funny

    anyone who doesn't know all the lyrics to American Pie deserves to be shot.

    Shot...with a cannon...

    ...That fires chairs.

    --
    Boot Windows, Linux, and ESX over the network for free.
    1. Re:OH yes.. by explosivejared · · Score: 4, Funny

      Oh my... we have already used one chair throwing reference in this thread. A more appropriate response would have been, "I imagine that is one alarm clock that is about to get f**king killed!" Alternatively, "Ballmer's lack of reply is most likely due to the torment caused by the voices in his head switching their chant from 'developers, developers, developers...' to 'Oracle, Oracle, Oracle...,' would have worked as well. Please practice proper meme etiquette in the future.

      --
      I got a catholic block.
  4. Re:It speaks volumes that they were caught out... by Sockatume · · Score: 4, Funny

    I imagine a heavy-set bald man standing in his office with a chair held above his head, ready to strike an rubber tree, when the messenger arrives. He pauses, bewildered, and softly puts the chair down to sit pensively, shaken to his very core.

    --
    No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  5. The Reason by kenp2002 · · Score: 4, Funny

    The reason Ballmer was speechless is he forgot Oracle was still around or was suprised Oracle had that kind of money. Take your pick...

    --
    -=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
  6. Re:Well they've got a lot of nerve by Locke2005 · · Score: 5, Funny

    True, but he IS one of the few CEOs that has his own usenet newsgroup: alt.balmer.developers.developers.developers!

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.