Microsoft CFO Quits

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Posted by timothy on Sunday April 21, 2013 @09:02PM from the extended-family-is-a-new-twist-on-the-old-lie dept.

McGruber writes "NBC News is reporting that Microsoft's Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein is leaving the company to spend time with his extended family, as Microsoft 'struggles with sharply declining personal computer sales and a lukewarm reception for its new Windows 8 operating system.' Klein is the latest in a line of top-level executives to leave the company, following Windows head Steven Sinofsky last November."

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Come on CEO... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-04-21 21:07 · Score: 5, Insightful

do the right thing.
1. Re:Come on CEO... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-04-21 21:12 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Yep, Balmer is definitely the problem.
2. Re:Come on CEO... by Taco+Cowboy · 2013-04-21 21:51 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Ballmer is not the problem --- that guy is only PART of a very BIG problem
  
  --
  Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
3. Re:Come on CEO... by peragrin · 2013-04-21 22:15 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  why? I think Ballmer is doing a fantastic job and he should keep up the hard chair throwing work.
  Because for every chair thrown another bad quarter for MSFT happens.
  
  --
  i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
4. Re:Come on CEO... by poetmatt · 2013-04-21 23:04 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  he represents the problem, and he's also responsible for the company *as* CEO. So either he fixes the problem or he is the problem.
5. Re:Come on CEO... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-04-21 23:06 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Have you ever SEEN Ballmer? I have talked to him in person once and have seen a talk (incoherent rant) by him once. He is the bigges problem they have at MS. They have others but he is by far the biggest. He has the same reality distortion field Jobs had, but it affects only him.
6. Re:Come on CEO... by Ironhandx · 2013-04-21 23:11 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Fixing a problem as large as the one at microsoft is a top-down job. You absolutely require a new CEO to fix it. Therefore stating that Ballmer is by far their largest problem is entirely accurate.
7. Re:Come on CEO... by VortexCortex · 2013-04-21 23:53 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Have you ever SEEN Ballmer? I have talked to him in person once and have seen a talk (incoherent rant) by him once. He is the bigges problem they have at MS. They have others but he is by far the biggest. He has the same reality distortion field Jobs had, but it affects only him.
  Hmm, sounds like he's such an ass that instead of a distortion field he's become large and dense enough to collapse into a singularity.
  Interestingly, it seems something like Hawking radiation is occurring at the edge of the singularity's influence: The Chief Officers begin radiating away from the company's event horizon giving one reason to those on the outside, while the actual reasons for departure fall back inward toward the singularity.
  If only there were a name for such phenomena where you become so dense and toxic that no intelligible thoughts escape you and everything within your reach turns to crap -- Sort of like a social version of a blackhole... hmm. Any ideas?
8. Re:Come on CEO... by rudy_wayne · 2013-04-21 23:57 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Yep, Balmer is definitely the problem.
  Ever wonder how Steve Ballmer keeps his job. Well, here it is:
  Bill Gates is Chairman of Microsoft's Board of Directors and Microsoft's largest stockholder
  Steve Ballmer was best man at Bill Gates' wedding.
9. Re:Come on CEO... by Talderas · 2013-04-22 00:00 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  If only there were a name for such phenomena where you become so dense and toxic that no intelligible thoughts escape you and everything within your reach turns to crap -- Sort of like a social version of a blackhole... hmm. Any ideas?
  Politician.
  
  --
  "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
10. Re:Come on CEO... by gtall · 2013-04-22 00:29 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Nah, Ballmer's doing to MS exactly like some of us would like to do to MS. MS deserves Ballmer.
11. Re:Come on CEO... by nojayuk · 2013-04-22 00:59 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Steve Ballmer has been in a senior position at MicroSoft for about thirty years now, unlike the typical bungee boss CEOs and board members of various other high-tech corporations such as HP (remember Carly?). During the time he's been working there MS total turnover has been about half a trillion bucks. I'd say US high-tech businesses could use some more chair-throwers like Ballmer and fewer wily super-geniuses like Fiorina.
12. Re:Come on CEO... by mabhatter654 · 2013-04-22 01:43 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  The root of the problem is that Gates set the company to run business units like mini-startups... With super-tough managers over each one. Then Gates stepped back and provided the money and cheerleading. The problem is that the culture developed of the business unit managers all stabbing EACH OTHER in the back to get ahead. So Office, servers, IE, and Windows units are all to some extent fighting for turf because Gates gave it to two different groups, or technology changed. Ballmer is just continuing what he was taught.
  Steve Jobs took the opposite approach (but only after he was kicked out and came back). If a product or service wasn't worth SETVE'S time then it was "coasting" or cut. Steve built Apple around its CEO paying attention to every detail of new products... And ATTENTION is limited and expensive.
  The idea to chop Microsoft into thirds is Past time. Microsoft should have done it five to ten years ago when they were fighting breaking up. Now, they are fighting to be interesting at all. They need to cut or spinoff technologies.. But they need a CEO that LOVES THEIR PRODUCTS. If anything THAT is what made Steve-notes so special... The CEO of the company knew the product inside out and was excited and loved it! Microsoft needs to shed and pair down until that is true of their products and CEO.
13. Re:Come on CEO... by nojayuk · 2013-04-22 01:50 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  "Saying that the Ballmer is no worse than Fiorini is no reason to keep Ballmer - there are far better alternatives around."
  Such as? Who's available, with the sort of deep knowledge of where MS came from, where it is today and where it is going tomorrow and who can step in and make MS even better than it is today with minimal disruption to the financial bottom line? Hmmm, tricky...
  Some day MS is going to have to cope without Steve B., hopefully not in the same way that Apple is handling the loss of Steve Jobs but that day isn't here yet. I find the idea that Ballmer is some kind of liability to MS quite amusing considering what would/will happen to the business if/when he does leave.
14. Re:Come on CEO... by Archangel+Michael · 2013-04-22 02:44 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Interestingly Microsoft is starting to realize, too late, that it has been a "Windows(TM)" company, and not a technology company. The fact that they tried to tie everything to Windows(TM), is the problem. Replace Windows(TM) (with say .. Android or iOS) and all of a sudden, your whole core is gone and all the supporting products are worth less. And that is what is happening. People are realizing that you don't need Windows(TM) to get stuff done. And in fact, you don't need Windows(TM) most of the time.
  And since people are realizing this, they are exploring other options.The days of being able to sell Windows 95 for $150 and have people line up around the block have long since been over. The Windows ship has sailed.
  
  --
  Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
15. Re:Come on CEO... by CanEHdian · 2013-04-22 03:04 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Bill Gates is Chairman of Microsoft's Board of Directors and Microsoft's largest stockholder
  The solution is obvious. Gates needs to retire. I, for one, would say that Steve Ballmer has "Chair-man" written all over him.
  Mark Zuckerberg should be hired as the new CEO. One new project will be Microsoft ofFACE - the ultimate social office experience.
  Peter changed his status to: "Going home sick (wink wink)"
  Janice added "Sales Forecast 2016" to PowerPoint Gallery
  John is writing: "Peter termination letter.docx".
  
  --
  When the copyright term is "forever minus a day", live every day like it's the last.
16. Re:Come on CEO... by hairyfeet · 2013-04-22 03:30 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Sorry Taco but he really IS the problem. I mean look at their track record under his watch, how many hits have they had? One and a half, Win 7 and X360 (which should only count as a half thanks to the 2.4 billion the RRoD cost) and now lets look at just a PARTIAL list of the failures...Zune, Kin, killing a growing playsforsure market for the DOA Zune market, Sidekick, Vista, 6 billion pissed away for that ad company that went nowhere, more money pissed away for Yahoo Search, 4 billion blown on the Windows 8 launch to get less than 4 million takers (which figures up to $500 for every $40 copy sold,hell he could have just gave everyone $50 for taking it and came out ahead) and WinRT.
  You wanna know the part that REALLY pisses me off? If the rumors are true thanks to Ballmer getting on his knees and begging Intel to save his behind there is a damned good chance Intel can save the Win 8 Vistabomb which will keep his fat ass in the big chair for at least one more release, thanks a fricking lot Intel. For those that haven't heard the rumor is a dual core Atom tablet with Windows 8 for just $225. If they manage to hit that price point you are gonna see a hell of an uptake simply because you won't be able to get anything that will run your Windows software for cheaper and if the new Atom's sub 2w power usage is correct we may actually finally get an all day laptop since they'll most likely sell a keyboard with extra battery ala the transformer.
  But even if Intel manages to save his fat hide it won't change the fact that windows 8 is DOA on desktops and laptops, hell its bad enough all the major hardware sites have "Not ready to switch? We have Windows 7!" ads...the guy is a trainwreck of a CEO, no doubt about it. You could have hired a monkey to throw poo at the stock page and had a better ROI than Ballmer had, he must have blown 20 billion plus these past 6 years and didn't have squat for a ROI.
  Frankly the only positive is if Intel manages to save his fat ass and give him a tablet that sells maybe he will STFU and let Windows 9 be Windows 7.1 but if he sticks to the road he has the company on he can kiss those piles of money they get from X86 desktops and laptops bye bye as all the OEMs are looking at exit strategies. You know that your CEO is made of suck when he actually loses share in a monopoly situation, hell my mom could run the company better than he has.
  
  --
  ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
17. Re:Come on CEO... by hairyfeet · 2013-04-22 04:08 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Its not that, its the fact that time and time again he has ignored all the data including their testers, the press, and most importantly their customers, and its cost the company billions.
  I mean why in the fuck even HAVE a beta tester program if you are gonna go "LA LA LA" to every single problem the testers point out? And while you certainly can't always go by the press, as for one thing they all seem enamored so much with smartphones they actually believe people are gonna give up their desktops and laptops for them, but when you have virtually the entire press and blogosphere saying "THIS REALLY SUCKS!" ya know what? it probably DOES really suck and needs to be fixed.
  Yet time and time again he has given the finger to all that aren't drinking the koolaid and its cost them billions.They blew billions of the Vista launch only for it to become the punchline of jokes when all they needed was to fix the more serious issues before launch, blew 8 billion on Skype only to realize they had no damned idea how to monetize it and to make matter worse forced a good chunk of their most loyal users to switch (see the recent uptick in yahoo, I can tell you its the former Hotmail and Windows messenger users jumping ship) because they tried to hamhandedly jam Skype in where it just didn't fit, and of course the billions spent on windows 8 ads when practically every single beta tester and tech blogger was saying its gonna fricking bomb, which what do you know, it did.
  Honestly i don't even know who to compare Ballmer to as i can't think of a CEO that completely ignored everything they were being told, never before have I seen a company so large just whip out a gun and shoot themselves in the head like that. Everyone said Elop was a plant but look at who he learned from folks, Ballmer could be the subject of textbooks dedicated to showing how NOT to run a successful company. When he took over from Gates they were on top of the world, had a monopoly and money to burn, but under Ballmer it became a "lost decade" because he simply didn't know what to do with the company.
  
  --
  ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
hardly cause for concern by Sadsfae · 2013-04-21 21:12 · Score: 5, Insightful

It'd be bigger news if he quit for another company, while Microsoft is on the decline it's going to be a very slow death spread across
a decade or two. They've still got considerable assets which will take a long time to bleed out.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=msft+balance+sheet&annual

--
Have a squat over at the hobo house.
1. Re:hardly cause for concern by Raumkraut · 2013-04-21 22:16 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  IANAA, but there's "creative accounting", and then there's fraud. One is perfectly legal, the other not. It's like the difference between "tax avoidance" and "tax evasion".
  The thing with creative accounting is not that it hides or creates money from nothing (which would be fraud), but that it moves it around from other places/times. If you see a really good quarter now, it's possibly because some income has been moved from elsewhen. So it might be expected for the next few fiscal quarters to be more disappointing.
  The old guy gets to leave on a high, and the new guy gets to "improve" the company's financials after an initial few bad quarters. It's an accountancy win-win.
2. Re:hardly cause for concern by ozmanjusri · 2013-04-21 22:28 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  How is that an unhealthy situation?
  Because partners who've been closely tied to their success are now looking at alternatives.
  "Vendors in China have revealed the Intel has begun to promote Android based convertible tablet/notebooks. Intel is concerned that Windows 8 has been unable to stimulate global demand for notebooks, and since global sales of Android tablets have been increasing, they are looking at reducing their reliance on the Microsoft OS.
  China-based vendor Lenovo will be first to release Intel driven Android systems in May, while Hewlett-Packard (HP), Toshiba, Acer and Asustek Computer will launch theirs in the third quarter."
  http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20130419PD208.html
  
  --
  "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
3. Re:hardly cause for concern by Nerdfest · 2013-04-21 23:41 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Yes, because if there's one thing Chinese companies respect, it's patents.
4. Re:hardly cause for concern by erroneus · 2013-04-22 00:06 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Unhealthy... where to begin?!
  Sure, it's a nice arrangement when the success of the PC industry is the success of Microsoft. But how healthy is it when the failure of Microsoft is the death of the PC industry??? The influence that a software maker has over the hardware industries is VERY unhealthy.
Microsoft is in deep shit now! by mobby_6kl · 2013-04-21 21:16 · Score: 4, Informative

Ah, yes, Microsoft is in deep shit now, what with the record revenue and what not. No wonder the CFO ran away. 2013 is going to be the year of Linux on the desktop, all hail RMS!
1. Re:Microsoft is in deep shit now! by delt0r · 2013-04-21 23:33 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  They still have more than 80% of the desktop market. Doing poorly is means truckloads of money. I can't see MS going anywhere soon.
  
  Half the problem is stock market expectations. You can't just do well, you must do better than last year. And not just better but the improvement has to be more than the previous year. Its hard to do that when you have pretty much already sold your product to everyone that has a computer.
  
  As a good economist once said, "Humans don't understand exponential curves".
  
  --
  If information wants to be free, why does my internet connection cost so much?
2. Re:Microsoft is in deep shit now! by dingen · 2013-04-22 00:44 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Even though this is modded down, it's really the bottom line: with Windows XP the operating system was basically done. Complete. Finished. No more features are required. Everything that was added later was either cruft or could just as easily have been implemented in Windows XP. The only reason why Microsoft kept certain things from XP (like proper 64-bit support, IE9+ and DirectX 10+) was to artificially create a reason for people to switch to future versions of Windows, not because XP didn't offer a decent platform for these things.
  Same thing applies to Office by the way, the other big part in Microsoft's revenue stream: both Office and Windows are "done" and have been so for years. And since Microsoft hasn't been able to make any profits in markets outside of the Windows/Office ecosystem, the future of the company currently depends on how much longer they can convince people to keep buying new versions of the same old software. How long before the general public realizes they don't need to "upgrade" because they don't get anything they already have now? Looking at Windows 8 sales figures: not very long.
  
  --
  Pretty good is actually pretty bad.
3. Re:Microsoft is in deep shit now! by div_2n · 2013-04-22 00:57 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Results posted today reflect realities from a bit back in history. The shift away from laptops and desktops is ramping up extremely quickly. I'm not sure I've ever witnessed such a rapid shift in the marketplace. The closest I can think of might be the migration away from IE and that took several years really.
  As an example, within the last week I've had conversations with two family members due new central computing devices. One is looking at a device like the Galaxy Note II as their primary computing device and the other is looking at a tablet. Both female. One 30ish and the other 60ish in age. Neither techies. All family members asking tech questions now are either phone or tablet related. None are asking about laptops or computers. It was exactly reverse a year ago.
  Do my family members make a trend? No. But the sales figures are showing a HUGE shift like I'm seeing.
  There's another trend emerging that is going to hit Microsoft really hard sooner or later that dovetails on the post-PC trend -- BYOD in companies. There are an increasing number of employees for whom tablets are just fine as their primary computing device. Basic productivity software such as Google Apps are just fine for their simple needs.
  It's important to note that Windows 8 was Microsoft's first effort to insulate themselves from this trend. So far, their effort has been mostly a flop. Unless they really right the ship with Windows 9, they will shift from market dominance to just another vendor. And while this will be painful for MS employees and shareholders, it will be great for consumers.
Why? by Pino+Grigio · 2013-04-21 21:48 · Score: 5, Insightful

It's a mystery to me why extremely rich men like Balmer continue with the daily drudgery of running a business like Microsoft. Personally I'd buy a huge yacht (inc. surface to air missiles) and sail around the world with a harem of supermodel concubines. For the rest of my natural life...
1. Re:Why? by robnelle · 2013-04-21 21:55 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  It's a mystery to me why extremely rich men like Balmer continue with the daily drudgery of running a business like Microsoft. Personally I'd buy a huge yacht (inc. surface to air missiles) and sail around the world with a harem of supermodel concubines. For the rest of my natural life...
  For some people it's not necessarily about just the money, it's about the power. Controlling one of the biggest and most ubiquitous companies in the world = a lot of power.
2. Re:Why? by c · 2013-04-21 22:55 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Personally I'd buy a huge yacht (inc. surface to air missiles) and sail around the world with a harem of supermodel concubines. For the rest of my natural life...
  Ah, the John McAfee package. Seems to be popular with the techie crowd. We're also having a special this week on the Kim Dotcom plan, if you're interested?
  Ah... anyhow, there's probably a reason that these people are extremely rich and you're not. Luck is obviously a factor, but it takes a certain kind of drive to keep playing the game well after you need to.
  
  --
  Log in or piss off.
Micro$oft by tuppe666 · 2013-04-21 21:56 · Score: 5, Interesting

And you expected something different here? Microsoft's latest numbers are actually astoundingly good, better than even most of the optimists predicted. They speak of a very healthy company, not one in decline at all.
Microsoft s numbers were *always* very good,, they deserve a $ on their name. 75% Gross profit margin is amazing, but that's not really the news here, because that is consistent. The news is that even with its primary product (Windows) taking a deserved beating they have made the difference up elsewhere (Servers; Gaming...well Live and Cloud...well Office).
The original poster I suspect was being a little sarcastic, but the Irony is not lost on me. From a financial point of view. Microsoft more diversified product line has saved it in the short term financially, but from where RMS and the rest of us look...Windows has proved to be a trainwreck, and Microsoft is weaker as a monopoly. Its high fives all around.
1. Re:Micro$oft by devent · 2013-04-22 01:20 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I can agree to that. I don't really care if Microsoft can create record profits. I do care that I can install Linux now on almost every hardware and it will work. I do care about LibreOffice and open standards so that I can exchange documents freely. I do care about an open web.
  With this for me important aspects of the software industry increasing year after year I couldn't be happier. 15 years ego it was all looking very dim for open source software and free standards. 15 years ego if you didn't used Windows you couldn't do any work and the IE and Microsoft Word and Excel was the "standard".
  So yes, high fives everyone.
  
  --
  http://www.mueller-public.de - My site http://www.anr-institute.com/ - Advanced Natural Research Institute
No no no no by Anonymous Coward · 2013-04-21 23:28 · Score: 5, Funny

My company supplies office furniture to Microsoft - like chairs - and ...and ...and... Balmer is NOT the problem. No Sir!
Orderly succession by MrMickS · 2013-04-21 23:38 · Score: 5, Insightful

There's nothing really to see here. He's been CFO for over three years, been at the company for much longer. Why not cash in on his various options and enjoy his life?
The doom and gloom about Microsoft on here is all wishful thinking. PC Windows is on a decline in the marketplace and has been since the the iPhone/iPad changed the game. Android has accelerated this by making smart touch devices available at a lower price point. Microsoft are aware of this, the speed of change has caught them out and they are going to stumble a little before they make the right move.
In the long run Office will survive because its a standard, nothing else can claim this. Office 365 gives them the ability to make money from Office without owning the OS. This is the future of Microsoft. Google may have been doing this longer but Office is Office.
Cloud computing/storage is going to be a big money earner going forward. Microsoft have positioned themselves for this. Going forward they would rather provide Windows servers using Azure than sell the OS. As unit sales of Windows server decline, look to Microsoft aggressively market and price Azure as an alternative. Especially in the SME space. Why run your own servers when you can get a reliable DR capable cloud solution from Microsoft. This is where the market is heading.
Xbox Live. The next Xbox is going to be a money earner. They are currently making money with the current service. The new one should come in at a reasonable price and allow them to continue this. It will also leverage cloud based services.
Consumer Windows is the bad news. This will move to become a phone/tablet OS which is where the consumer market is going. The chances are that they will come good, they have a lot of smart people working there.
Oh, and before the accusations start I'm not a Microsoft shill. I've never bought a computer that runs Windows. I just like to look at things a little more realistically. I still expect to get modded down because that's what happens on Slashdot.

--
You may think me a tired, old, cynic. I'd have to disagree about the tired bit.
Re:They didn't make him the CFO for nothing! by gtall · 2013-04-22 00:48 · Score: 4, Insightful

No dick. The start button removal was a collective decision to use the only strategy MS knows: use the desktop monopoly to force their way into a mobile monopoly. If they could get punters to actually like Metro, then they'd like to see it on their mobiles as well...errr....or something....