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Ballmer's Competitive Streak Drove Yahoo Bid

Microsoft CEO once vowed to 'kill Google'

By Caroline Zimmerman,  Newser User

Posted May 4, 2008 7:36 PM CDT
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(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."

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.
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.
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.
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.
Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer works the crowd gathered for the 2008 Microsoft Summit MVP in Seattle on Thursday, April 17, 2008.   (Associated Press)
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Interview with Ballmer before Microsoft's withdrawal
Wall Street Journal

Yahoo's future foggy after Microsoft pulls out
MarketWatch

Ballmer's 'monkey boy' dance
YouTube

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

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