He won't sell Microsoft stock, he sings along to Fergie: 7 interesting things Steve Ballmer said today
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- Rachel Lerman
- Staff Writer- Puget Sound Business Journal
- Email | Twitter
Former Microsoft CEO and exuberant L.A. Clipper owner Steve Ballmer dished about Microsoft, Amazon and basketball Wednesday at the WSJD Live event. He also sang part of a Fergie song, which the singer has recorded for the Clippers.
Ballmer was interviewed by Wall Street Journal writer Monica Langley, and the whole thing was hilariously live-blogged by Casey Newton at The Verge.
Here are seven of the most important things he said:
1. Ballmer told interviewer Langley that the real money to be made in tech is on devices, according to a live blog from The Verge. That comment comes at a time when his former company is moving away from its "devices and services" focus rolled out under Ballmer and into its new mantra of "mobile-first, cloud-first." Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who took over in February, has said repeatedly it's not about what devices are running the company's programs, but about the programs themselves.
2. Ballmer told Langley he wants to "hold (Microsoft) stock until I die." Ballmer, who stepped down from the company's board in August, owns more shares of the company than anyone else. He owned more than 333 million shares in May.
3. He issued another zing to Microsoft's neighbor Amazon, just days after he told Charlie Rose the e-commerce giant isn't "a real business" because it doesn't make money. "Somebody is really expecting them to start making $10 or $15 billion every single quarter," he said, according to The Verge. "I still believe that over time, markets measure profit. At least, that's what they taught us in economics class."
4. The biggest difference between sports and tech, he said, is you can't control the outcome of a sports game. But he hasn't left the tech world entirely — there's plenty of machine learning going on with data from the Clippers, he said.
"I want to hold [Microsoft] stock until I die," says Steve Ballmer #WSJDLive pic.twitter.com/YRgDy79Jcc
— Greg Bensinger (@GregBensinger) October 29, 2014
All the confirmation you need that Steve Ballmer is in fact studying for his Bar Mitzvah. pic.twitter.com/os7SxOA2C5
— Joanna Stern (@JoannaStern) October 29, 2014
Rachel Lerman covers technology and retail for the Puget Sound Business Journal.
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