You gotta get Gates to agree on that first. As long as Gates supports
Ballmer - to take out Ballmer, I suspect you'll have to take out Gates as
well.
Rumor has it he's still the single largest shareholder of MS with
some 400 million shares.
With 8.35 billion (roughly) shares outstanding,
that puts Gates personal holdings at 4.8%. Doesn't seem like a lot - but I
wonder what the percentage (if any) the Gates Foundation holds. Additionally,
even though Gates has supposedly moved away from MS activities - I wouldn't at
all be surprised he still has significant "Corporate Political"
strength.
So long as the greater portion of shareholders will follow
Gates direction - you likely won't oust Ballmer. They have to become unhappy
with Gates as well as Ballmer before I suspect real change will occur.
I
wonder how much of a personal touch Gates might have had in getting Elop leader
of Nokia.....
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