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Bill Gates today turns Microsoft Corp. over to the sole leadership of Steve Ballmer. There may have been better times for a handoff.
Shares of the world's largest software maker are down 22 percent this year, sales of Windows software are slowing, and an attempt to buy Yahoo! Inc. flopped. And Google Inc. is widening its lead over Microsoft in Internet searches, leaving Ballmer with a case of ``chronic Google envy,'' according to Jane Snorek, an analyst at Minneapolis-based First American Funds.
While Ballmer has been chief executive officer since 2000, founder Gates's retirement as an active chairman will leave his college buddy alone in the spotlight and under increasing pressure to revive the shares, Snorek said.
``The No. 1 judgment of a CEO is the stock,'' said Snorek, whose firm manages $100 billion in investments including Microsoft shares. ``The stock hasn't recovered.'' |
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