Ex-CEO Steve Ballmer says letting go of Microsoft was the best thing he did after stepping down — even if it took a year
In an interview on the "Acquired" podcast published Monday, Ballmer opened up about the emotional challenge of walking away from the company he helped build over three decades.
"It was my baby," said Balmer, who replaced cofounder Bill Gates as CEO in 2000 and led the company until 2014. "I was there so early, and I hired basically everybody."
Ballmer, known for his now-iconic, sweat-drenched "Developers! Developers! Developers!" chant at an early 2000s conference, said he initially tried to stay involved, not operationally but as an ultra-engaged investor.
He said he read everything, attended conferences and even went to a shareholder meeting where, by his own account, he was "kind of a dick."
"I was too emotionally attached," he said. "You can't control anything anymore, so it's hard. You don't want to stay quite that emotionally attached because it's like, 'Oh, I got to get back in and fix everything.'"
Over the next year, Ballmer said he slowly worked on letting go. But his emotional attachment deepened when he and his wife, philanthropist ConnieSnyder, began ramping up their philanthropy, eventually prompting him to consider selling all his Microsoft stocks.
"It was nothing to do with money," he said. "My only thought process was emotional detachment."
But just before he could hit the sell button, he said a former Microsoft colleague working with him in finance stopped him.
"She said, 'You can't sell. This is going to be worth a lot more'," he said. "And I said, 'Look, my loyalty trumps my emotional attachment," and he held on to his stocks.
Now, Ballmer said he's found balance.
"I'm just going to be loyal and emotionally detached enough for this to be okay," he said.
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Time Business News
38 minutes ago
- Time Business News
3 Renowned Film Actors From San Francisco, California
San Francisco is a well-known city with numerous tourist attractions and a wealthy living environment. It is a city whose expenses can only be afforded by wealthy people. Everyone can't afford the living expenses in San Francisco because of the costly living environment. This city is a hub of IT Experts where numerous IT-related companies are performing their operations, including Twitter, Microsoft, Meta, SalesForce and Amazon. Real Estate Developers and Investors invest millions of dollars in this city because the profit ratio is amazing. This city has given countless talented actors to the entertainment industry. Our article is about them. We'll uncover the 3 Renowned Film Actors From San Francisco, California. The actors we'll be revealing in today's article aren't just talented, but they are wealthy and have millions of followers. We'll also brief you about their career journey. Therefore, let's start our article without any further ado because we have unlimited things to share. 3 Renowned Film Actors From San Francisco, California San Francisco is packed with infinite film actors, but we're recommending talented actors. We can bombard our article with unlimited actors, but this won't be suitable because people love to read the stories of actors who faced difficulties in making their careers successful. The 3 actors we're about to reveal have faced countless difficulties throughout their careers. Today, these people need no introduction because they have millions of followers. Here are their names: Ali Wong Benjamin Bratt Aisha Tyler These are the 3 Renowned Film Actors From San Francisco, California. These 3 celebrities have appeared in countless films and have gained recognition by showcasing fabulous performances while having difficult roles. We'll brief you about their career journey. Therefore, please give us a thumbs up because we're about to reveal some interesting things about the 3 actors we mentioned below. Ali Wong Alexandra Dawn Wong is one of San Francisco, California's best and most talented actresses. She is well-known for her extraordinary comedy skills. Indeed, her acting skills are the most loved ones, but people know her because of her comedy, and she performs outstandingly well on comedy sets. Ali Wong was born in Pacific Heights, San Francisco, on April 19, 1982. She attended the San Francisco University High School to complete her graduation. Later, she went to the University of Los Angeles and majored in Asian American Studies. This woman also studied in Vietnam, but the doors to the United States opened when her mother came here as a Social Worker. Ali Wong tried her luck in stand-up comedy after she completed her studies. She was a hard-working girl who practiced countless hours on stage. Later, she moved to New York City to continue her acting journey. In New York City, she started working even harder by performing nine times in one night. Ali Wong wanted success in her career. She worked with maximum potential during her starting days, which paid off. Ali Wong made her debut role in an American Sitcom Television Series, Breaking In. This was her first try, so the role was minor, but she performed outstandingly well because she had enough confidence after practicing a lot. Her performance helped her win a title from Variety. Variety is a famous trade magazine in America, and comedians want titles from this company because it's highly reputable. Ali Wong won the title of '10 Comics To Watch' from this company. This was the biggest win of her career because she became successful on her first try. Winning this title made her famous, and she got numerous other roles in countless Television Series. Later, she appeared on The Tonight Show, New York Stand Up Show, and Comedy Underground Show. She practiced a lot during her training. Hence, she had enough stamina to perform outstandingly well in different Television Series simultaneously. She delivered a fabulous performance and got the opportunity to appear in NBC's comedy series Are You There, Chelsea? This comedy series performed well, and Ali Wong's fan following increased afterward. People started to know her as the best comedian of all time. Ali Wong decided to appear in Hollywood Films. She had multiple opportunities to do so, which she availed herself of. She performed well in numerous Hollywood Films, and every movie was related to comedy. Her popularity in the entertainment industry was skyrocketing day by day. In 2016, she appeared in Netflix's stand-up special, Baby Cobra. Performing this role while impressing the audience was difficult, but Ali Wong delivered a powerful performance with complete intensity. People were shocked after her fabulous performance in this series, which made her famous. In 2018, she got another significant role in another Netflix series, Hard Knock Wife. She showcased outstanding performance, which helped her win multiple awards and nominations. These were excellent awards, but in 2023, she appeared in Netflix's Dark Comedy Series Beef. This role changed everything for her because numerous big doors of big companies opened the doors of awards for Ali Wong. Appearing in Beef and illustrating the best comedy changed everything for her. You won't believe the outcome she got after performing outstandingly in Beef. This role helped her win 21 awards and 20 nominations for her fabulous performance. Indeed, this was the best achievement of her life. Ali Wong's wealth and fame gained speed after this role. According To Rob Dyrdek NW, Ali Wong's Net Worth is $10 Million. She is a talented and renowned comedian from San Francisco, California. Very few people from this city have achieved what this girl has achieved. It isn't possible for everybody. Indeed, she made the impossible possible. Let's see what she achieves more in her life. We'll keep you updated about it. Benjamin Bratt Benjamin Bratt is another famous name in Hollywood. He is known for his outstanding roles in countless Films and TV Series. Benjamin Bratt was born in San Francisco, California, on December 16, 1963. He attended the Lowell High School to complete his primary education. Later, he got a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Later, he got a Master of Fine Arts from the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. He couldn't complete it because he got a role in a Television Film, Juarez. This was a low-budget film, but his performance was outstanding. Benjamin Bratt got the opportunity to deliver supporting roles in numerous other Films and Television Series, but it didn't help him gain the fame he wanted. He had to work more to get his name recognized like other celebrities. Benjamin Bratt kept performing well in numerous but low-budget films until 1993. In 1993, this man got roles in 2 different Hollywood films, including Blood in Blood Out and Demolition Man. The first film, Blood in Blood Out, had a budget of $35 Million, but its grossing was disappointing. This film only grossed $4,496,583 at the Box Office, disappointing Benjamin Bratt, but this man made a quick comeback in the same year. In Demolition Man, he performed the role of Officer Alfredo Garcia. It was a challenging role, but Benjamin Bratt performed outstandingly. This film grossed $159 million at the Box Office, but its budget was around $45-$77 Million. This man became famous and got numerous supporting roles in multiple other films after delivering outstanding performances. In 1994, he got a supporting role in The River Wild film. This film grossed $94.2 Million at the Box Office, whereas the budget was $45 Million. It sounded suitable for Benjamin Bratt because he wasn't facing setbacks after a long career. Later, he got another supporting role in Clear and Present Danger. This film's grossing was outstanding, $215.9 Million, but its budget was $62 Million. Benjamin Bratt kept on winning in his struggling days. He achieved a significant career breakthrough after appearing on NBC's drama series Law and Order. His appearance in Law and Order and fantastic performances helped him win a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. This role changed everything for Benjamin Bratt. Now, big doors opened before him. He got multiple roles in films that became famous, including Miss Congeniality, Traffic, Piñero, Catwoman, Trucker, Snitch, etc. Numerous actors and actresses dream of appearing in these films, but Benjamin Bratt won the opportunity to appear. Appearing in them wasn't enough. Showcasing outstanding performance was also necessary. Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and this man won numerous awards and nominations in his career. According To TZO Wiki, Benjamin Bratt's Net Worth is $12 Million. He is a millionaire and renowned actor from San Francisco, California. People love his appearance in different films because his supporting role is outstanding. Aisha Tyler Aisha Tyler stood last on our list, but people know her because of her outstanding acting skills. She is also a Talk Show Host, but people love her acting skills because she performs outstandingly onstage. Being a Talk Show Host builds confidence in speaking the statements. This is a surplus for her, but she is a talented actress born in San Francisco, California, on September 18, 1970. Aisha Tyler attended McAteer High School to complete her primary education. Later, she went to the Dartmouth College to complete her graduation. She graduated in 1992 and started working in an advertising firm in San Francisco, California. Working in this company was helping her earn enough money, but she wanted to become a full-time actress. Hence, she moved to Los Angeles in 1996 to pursue her career as an actress. Her acting journey started in 1996, but she had zero experience. She had previously worked in an advertising firm. This field has nothing to do with acting or comedy. Hence, it was difficult for Aisha Tyler to begin her journey, but she did it successfully. In 1996, she got the chance to appear in her debut Television Series, Nash Bridges. She was assigned the role of news reporter. It was a minor role, but also it was her first try. Hence, she was comfortable performing this minor role because no actress gets the lead on their first try. Aisha Tyler was forced to perform minor roles to get herself recognized. In 1999, she got another role in another Action Drama Series, The Pretender. Her role in this series was minor, but she performed outstandingly. This journey continued like this. Aisha Tyler got multiple roles and continued her work. After working a bit, she got a role in The Santa Clause 2 Film, which changed everything. The role was minor, and she got herself for a few minutes in the film, but her performance was fabulous. This role made Aisha Tyler famous, and she got various opportunities after that. Aisha Tyler became someone who needed no introduction after appearing in The Santa Clause 2 Film. Directors offered her different roles in different movies. She continued her journey after that because the difficult hurdle disappeared when she performed outstandingly. Aisha Tyler didn't have to work hard to get the role because she had something to show on her portfolio. Hence, getting roles became easier, and she kept working hard. In 2015, she appeared in Criminal Minds, a famous police procedural crime drama series. Her role recurred, and she performed it very well. This role made Aisha Tyler a celebrity in Hollywood. She has millions of followers today because she has performed outstandingly well in every film she appeared in. This girl also came from San Francisco and received a quick breakthrough in her career. Some actresses fail to achieve quickly, but Aisha Tyler was fortunate because she got fame after 6 years of hard work. That was good. Today, Aisha Tyler is a renowned actress from a wonderful city. Let's see what she achieves more in her career. We'll keep you updated about her. Conclusion These were the 3 Renowned Actors From San Francisco, California. Everyone is a celebrity as of now. These people don't need any introduction because they have millions of followers. Everyone knows Ali Wong, Benjamin Bratt and Aisha Tyler. These people have succeeded in captivating huge audiences through their acting skills. I hope we have highlighted the right people. What are your thoughts about that? Please comment and let us know your thoughts about these people. We'll be waiting for you in our website's comments section. That's all for now. Take Care! TIME BUSINESS NEWS
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
LinkedIn CEO to take over Office, more AI duties in Microsoft executive shuffle
By Stephen Nellis SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -The CEO of LinkedIn will take additional responsibility for Microsoft's (MSFT) Office products, while an executive responsible for one of the company's leading business-to-business artificial intelligence products will start reporting to head of the company's Windows unit, according to a memo from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella viewed by Reuters. Ryan Roslansky, who oversees the business-focused social network owned by Microsoft, will remain CEO of LinkedIn but also oversee products such as Word and Excel and also "Copilot," Microsoft's leading AI product, within the company's productivity software suite, the memo said. Roslansky will report to Rajesh Jha, who oversees Microsoft Windows and Teams, among other duties. The memo said existing Office leaders Sumit Chauhan and Gaurav Sareen will report to Jha as well. Also moving to report to Jha will be Charles Lamanna, who leads "Copilot" for business and industrial users, the memo said.
The Verge
2 hours ago
- The Verge
Surface Pro 12-inch review: heart warmer
Tom Warren is a senior editor and author of Notepad, who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. I have always had a soft spot for the Surface Pro X. It was the thinner, lighter, and fanless Surface tablet that I had always wanted Microsoft to make, but when it came out nearly six years ago, Windows wasn't ready to handle the Arm chip inside — and vice versa. Sluggish performance and app compatibility issues kept the Surface Pro X from living up to its beautiful design. It was a heartbreaker. Microsoft is once again trying to perfect the Surface Pro design with a $799 12-inch version of its tablet and laptop hybrid that ditches the fan and uses Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon X Plus chip. This time around, it's warming my heart instead of breaking it, thanks to a redesign of the entire tablet and the performance and battery life to match. The result of the overhaul is a tablet that combines some of the best design elements you'll find on an iPad or Samsung's tablets, with the versatility of Windows. While the competition has been trying to copy the Surface Pro for years, Microsoft has now borrowed from the best tablets to improve its own laptop and tablet hybrid even further. Last year's Surface Pro 11 (now the Surface Pro 13-inch) had the same basic design Microsoft had been using since the Surface Pro 8 in 2021, with an airflow vent wrapped around the top half of the chassis that your fingers would tend to find if you were using it as a tablet. The most obvious design change to the 12-inch Surface Pro, other than its smaller display, is that it doesn't have those vents. It's sealed off and rounded in a way that an iPad is, so it feels a lot softer to hold. I love this new design. The lack of a fan has allowed Microsoft to push ahead with this change, and it's one that I really hope sticks for all future models because I never want to use a Surface Pro with a fan ever again. While the kickstand is largely unchanged, this new rounded design also enables some big changes to how the stylus and keyboard work on the 12-inch Surface Pro. Microsoft has moved the stylus storage and charging to the top rear of this smaller Surface Pro, much like Samsung's Galaxy Tab devices. It's more convenient than having to dig into the keyboard and fiddle to get the Surface Pen out, and Microsoft has managed to use strong enough magnets that the stylus never once dropped inside my bag over the past few weeks. However, that does mean that if you're in tablet mode but not actively using the pen, it's often in the way. The keyboard cover won't sit flush with the back of the Surface if you fold it back while the pen is attached; there's a gap at the top where it rests against the pen, and it feels a bit wobbly. And if you use the Surface Pro as a pure tablet, but don't use the stylus, then you'll probably end up resting your fingers on it or shaking the slightly loose button. It's not a big deal, especially when you consider that the Surface Pro ships without a keyboard ($149) or stylus ($129), and you have to purchase them separately or in a $249 bundle. Most people probably won't bother with the stylus, but if you do, that's something to be aware of. Repositioning the stylus has allowed Microsoft to make some significant changes to the keyboard on the 12-inch Surface Pro. While it still magnetically clicks into place on the bottom edge of the tablet, it now lays perfectly flat. The keyboards of previous models had a second magnetic attachment point at the bottom of the front bezel, optionally giving the keyboard a slight angle. Without it, the keyboard feels a lot sturdier. Previous Surface Pro keyboards also had a lot of flex to them, which always put me off using the Surface Pro on work trips where I'd be writing thousands of words for stories. The new keyboard has no flex whatsoever. Even on my lap, it feels sturdier for typing, though the kickstand prevents you from having it far back on your legs as you would a regular laptop, and I quickly got used to the slightly smaller size. The other big change is that it's no longer lined with alcantara fabric on the palm rests. The rear cover still has alcantara, but Microsoft is now using a plastic for the palm rests instead of the fabric that could easily get dirty. I think I still prefer the softer touch of the alcantara palm rests, though. You can't use the keyboard wirelessly like you could with the 13-inch Flex keyboard, and Microsoft has also ditched the haptic touchpad. I never used the wireless option, but the lack of haptics really makes the touchpad feel a lot more bland, and it's something I've missed a lot over the past few weeks. One thing I haven't missed is the larger OLED display found on the 13-inch model. I really hate the grainy effect that the OLED has, especially around black text on a white background. On the 12-inch model, Microsoft is using a regular 3:2 PixelSense LCD display, and while it's a slightly lower resolution and a 90Hz panel instead of 120Hz, I far prefer it for reading text. I do wish the bezels were a lot slimmer, but Microsoft has at least made them the same size all around the 12-inch display, so they feel a little less distracting than on the 13-inch model. In keeping with Microsoft borrowing ideas from other tablets, the company has repositioned the rear camera on the 12-inch Surface Pro so it's in the corner like on Samsung's tablets or Apple's iPads. I still wouldn't be caught dead taking photos using a tablet, but it makes more sense like this, rather than centered on the long edge, so you can at least hold the Surface Pro vertically if you really want to take photos or videos. The front-facing 1080p camera isn't ultrawide this time around, so it doesn't have the unflattering fish-eye effect and framing found on the 13-inch Surface Pro. I've used it for plenty of calls, and while I'm still not a fan of the way the eye contact feature changes the shape of my eyes, the other Windows Studio Effects are super useful for improving your lighting or blurring out the background automatically. Inside the 12-inch, Microsoft is using Qualcomm's eight-core Snapdragon X Plus chip. It's an Arm-based processor, so that means apps will run emulated unless a developer has natively compiled their app for Arm64. That used to be a big issue with the Surface Pro X in 2019, but a lot has changed over the past 12 months, let alone six years. Most of the apps I use on a daily basis are now native Arm64. The big exceptions for me include Discord and Premiere Pro. While Discord has been busy adding currencies for ads instead of releasing a native Arm version of its app, that might be about to change. I've been using an early Arm-native development build of Discord recently, and it totally solves all of the sluggish performance issues. The same can't be said for Premiere Pro, though. While Adobe has created an Arm64 version of Photoshop, you still have to install the Intel-based version of Premiere Pro. It's not totally unusable, but I wouldn't recommend any Arm-based machines for Premiere Pro usage until Adobe finally addresses this. The Snapdragon X Plus chip inside the 12-inch Surface Pro has two fewer cores than the base LCD 13-inch model, and four cores less than the 12-core OLED variant. I've been using a 10-core Surface Laptop regularly over the past year, and this Surface Pro hasn't felt slower at all. As this is a Copilot Plus PC, Microsoft also uses the neural processing unit (NPU) built into Qualcomm's chip to enable a bunch of AI-powered features in Windows. The controversial Recall feature is now available, which takes snapshots of mostly everything you do on the Surface Pro to create a scrollable timeline. I've found Recall to be creepy, clever, and compelling, but it's not a big reason to buy a Copilot Plus PC. I've loved using the improved AI-powered Windows Search though, which lets me search for text inside files or photos, and find documents a lot more quickly. If you're like me and most of your work is in the browser or involves apps that are native Arm64, then the Surface Pro 12-inch feels like the performance of a laptop squeezed into a tablet. I've found that I get around nine hours of battery life with mixed usage of the browser, apps like Photoshop and Slack, and maybe the odd Teams call here or there. I've never really worried about charging the Surface Pro 12-inch, and on some days I even used it for an eight-hour working day and still had 30 percent battery remaining. I'd wake up the next day and it still had that 30 percent, or close to it, ready for the day ahead. Microsoft has also ditched its magnetic Surface Connect charging cable, but there are two USB-C ports that can be used to charge up the Surface Pro. I only use USB-C to charge my devices, so I don't think I'll miss the Surface Connect port other than the neat way it attaches on the 13-inch model. While the Surface Pro is great at resuming instantly and not draining battery life in your bag or overnight, if you don't use it for a couple of days over a weekend then you'll have to wait 30 seconds or so for it to be ready to use on a Monday morning. This isn't a huge issue, but the iPad never goes into a deep sleep mode like this, and on a couple of occasions I've resumed the Surface Pro on a Monday and the Windows Hello camera has failed to work. I kept getting a 'something went wrong' message, but rebooting the device brought it back to life again. I've used this Surface Pro on a train, on my sofa, on a desk, and in pubs and cafes over the past few weeks. I still find that I have to adjust my posture or body to use the Surface Pro in my lap because of the kickstand, but it almost feels worth this slight compromise for the versatility of using a small PC on the go. This Surface Pro redesign also presents some of the best bits of rival tablets into a piece of hardware that feels a lot more tablet-like than Microsoft has ever created. I've been using this Surface Pro in tablet mode more often as a result, simply because of the smaller size and the ease of switching between laptop and tablet modes. The operating system and apps still feel like more of a laptop, though. Microsoft also sells the Surface Pro without a keyboard, as if it's a pure tablet, but as always, you really need to purchase that $150 keyboard to unlock the best experience. That pushes the pricing up to $950, which is more than you'd pay for a 13-inch Surface Laptop, and close to the $999 launch price of the Surface Laptop 7. While the Surface pricing situation seems more complicated than ever, I love small computers, and the 12-inch Surface Pro has this allure to it that makes me want to keep picking it up for the day. I'd still like to see Microsoft improve the tablet experience in Windows 11 with a mode that's more like what existed in Windows 8. But even without those improvements, the 12-inch Surface Pro is as close as Microsoft has ever gotten to fulfilling my dream of a lightweight PC you can throw under your arm and carry around all day without worrying about battery life. It's still not perfect, but it's not the heartbreaker the Surface Pro X once was. Photography by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
