14 DAY TRIAL // Steve Ballmer’s mea culpa reached the web the past weekend, as Microsoft’s outgoing CEO admitted in an interview that it was probably the time to leave the company and make room for a new leader.
Salesforce.com's CEO Marc Benioff apparently shares the same thoughts, as he recently hinted in a conference call with analysts that large companies need new leaders to adapt to the evolving business climate and focus on a little bit more than their old products.
“The world has changed. The companies that are struggling in the market today have not gone cloud. They have not gone social. They have not gone mobile. They are still trying to sell the same old stuff,” Benioff was quoted as saying by Business Insider.
“[Ballmer is] too representative of the past. For a lot of these companies, that quote could be about them,” he continued.
Ballmer himself said in the interview that Microsoft needs a new leader to continue the transition to devices and services he started.
“Maybe I'm an emblem of an old era, and I have to move on. As much as I love everything about what I'm doing, the best way for Microsoft to enter a new era is a new leader who will accelerate change,” Ballmer said.
Steve Ballmer announced his decision to leave Microsoft earlier this year, saying that he would retire as soon as a successor is found.
At this point, the Redmond-based tech giant is discussing with five potential candidates, including Ford’s boss Alan Mulally, former Nokia chief Stephen Elop, and internals Kevin Turner, Satya Nadella, and Tony Bates.
Rumor has it that Mulally is in pole-position for the vacant seat, with an official Microsoft announcement to be made by year-end. Mulally, on the other hand, has strongly denied speculation, saying that he only wants to stick with Ford until 2014.