Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

July 25, 2008 12:40:39 PM CDT

Learn about Newser Points »

« Back to the grid | Next story »

Ballmer's Competitive Streak Drove Yahoo Bid

Posted May 4, 08 7:36 PM CDT in Technology,  Business 

(Newser) – Microsoft's Yahoo bid put CEO Steve Ballmer to the test: How much would he pay to fulfill his promise to "(expletive) kill Google"? Forty-seven billion bucks was too high, but many say he'll try again—and may have a tough time convincing investors it's all cool calculation. Microsoft still lags behind Google in search advertising, and that makes Ballmer steam, the AP reports.

Cool calm has never been his trademark. He earned the nickname "Monkey Boy" after improvising an odd on-stage dance—a moment that Google-owned YouTube still has online. And "I'm well known not to be the world's best negotiator," he once said. But he fuels a "Microsoft machismo thing," one analyst said, "flexing their muscle and showing how serious they are."

Source Associated Press

0 comments | Print E-mail | Digg Seed this on Newsvine Add this link to Del.icio.us StumbleUpon

Related Newser Stories

  • After Yahoo, Microsoft Amps Up Search Effort

    Jul 24, 08 4:21 PM CDT
    After Yahoo, Microsoft Amps Up Search Effort CEO Steve Ballmer is spinning Microsoft’s failure to acquire Yahoo expertly, telling analysts today that, unburdened by the search giant, the company can be more frisky and adaptable in its fight with nemesis Google, the Wall Street Journal reports. Actions might speak louder than words, though: Microsoft announced yesterday it would give the leader of its online efforts the boot, and restructure. More »

  • It's Google's Turn on the Hot Seat

    Jul 14, 08 2:10 PM CDT
    It's Google's Turn on the Hot Seat You have to forgive Microsoft if it indulges in some schadenfreude today, writes Brier Dudley of the Seattle Times. Archrival Google is facing a peril that’s all too familiar in Redmond. Steve Ballmer can sit back tomorrow as Google’s top execs go before the Senate subcommittee on antitrust, secure in the knowledge that he helped put them there. More »

  • Microsoft Preps a New Run at Yahoo

    Jul 2, 08 8:18 AM CDT
    Microsoft Preps a New Run at Yahoo Microsoft is back in pursuit of Yahoo, the Wall Street Journal reports, with the company in talks with both News Corp. and Time Warner as potential partners for a restructured deal to buy the search giant. Yahoo has been in Microsoft’s sights for nearly six months, but initial efforts to buy the entire company collapsed, and Microsoft has since been looking instead to acquire the search business and spin off the rest. More »

  • Gates Departure Should Calm the Waters

    Jun 5, 08 4:24 PM CDT
    Gates Departure Should Calm the Waters Bill Gates’ departure from full-time employment at Microsoft on June 27 will end 8 contentious years in which Gates has attempted to stay onboard while nominally beneath his close friend and new CEO, Steve Ballmer. Though they built the company together, this “ambassadorial succession” produced mixed results, with Gates undermining Ballmer in front of executives, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »

  • Microsoft Will Offer Search Customers Cash

    May 21, 08 10:46 AM CDT
    Microsoft Will Offer Search Customers Cash Having largely abandoned its bid to buy, in the form of Yahoo, a significant presence in the Internet search business, Microsoft now will give customers money back when they buy items through its Live.com search portal, the Wall Street Journal reports. To be made official today, the move makes clear Microsoft isn't giving up on its search ambitions. More »

In this Oct. 18, 2007 file photo of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer gestures as he talks at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.   (Associated Press)
Bill Gates talks as the keynote speaker for the seventh annual Institute for Systems Biology International Symposium in Seattle in this April 21, 2008, file photo.   (Associated Press)
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer gestures while speaking during a media conference at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, Thursday April 24, 2008.   (Associated Press)
Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer works the crowd gathered for the 2008 Microsoft Summit MVP in Seattle on Thursday, April 17, 2008.   (Associated Press)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
Our editors also recommend:

Threads (1 of 6)

Tags

Google  • Microsoft  • Yahoo  • online advertising  • Bill Gates  • Steve Ballmer  • takeover  • takeover bid  • online ads


Loading...

Loading...

Today's Most Popular


Other Business Stories

What is Newser?

2008 Codie Finalist

Newser gives you more news in less time. We search for the best and most important stories all over the web, read them for you, and deliver concise and sharp summaries—along with links to the full text. Newser provides a way to stay on top of an ever-expanding horizon of news and opinion—politics, sports, business, trends, technology, personalities, crimes, and controversies. Newser keeps you not just better informed, but, with our signature graphic interface and smart condensed format, more enjoyably informed.

Learn more »