Ballmer’s anticipated board exit boosts Nadella’s standing

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(Source: IDG)

It is not surprising that former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer abruptly gave up his board seat some six months after leaving the top job, and the move should help cement the regime and strategy of his successor Satya Nadella, according to several industry observers.

“I think it’s a classy move by Ballmer,” said analyst Frank Scavo, managing partner of IT consulting firm Strativa. “It shows Ballmer has confidence in Nadella, allowing Nadella to move forward without worrying about what Ballmer thinks.”

In a letter to Nadella released Tuesday, Ballmer cited a number of reasons for leaving the board, including his recent $2 billion (€1.5 billion) purchase of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team. “I have become very busy” since leaving Microsoft, Ballmer said.

He has indeed thrown himself wholeheartedly into running the Clippers, which were marred by a public scandal after former team owner Donald Sterling was banned from the league for making racist remarks. On Monday (18/08/2014), Ballmer held a rally with fans of the team, during which he displayed his trademark vocal bombast and kinetic enthusiasm.

In his letter to Nadella, Ballmer also expressed confidence in Microsoft’s “approach of mobile-first, cloud-first, and in our primary innovation emphasis on platforms and productivity.” He also said he plans to maintain his financial position in Microsoft, saying he is the single largest shareholder apart from index funds.

“Microsoft under Nadella is a very different company than it was under Ballmer. I don’t know how much more Ballmer could really help,” David Johnson — Forrester Research

His decision to leave the board came “sooner than expected, but was not unexpected,” said Forrester Research analyst David Johnson. “Microsoft under Nadella is a very different company than it was under Ballmer. I don’t know how much more Ballmer could really help.”

Under Ballmer, Microsoft sought to harvest the “successes of the past” through sales and marketing, while Nadella is much more focused on new innovations, evidenced by efforts such as the new Azure Machine Learning service, Johnson said. “In a way, that’s a return to Microsoft’s philosophical roots.”

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