The New Frontrunner to Run Microsoft is Ford’s CEO

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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Believe it or not, the next CEO of Microsoft may drive up to the Redmond Campus in a Ford. In that Ford will most likely be the then ex-head honcho of Ford Motors reporting for duty ready to turn Microsoft around.

Ford, under Mulally, was the only American car company that didn't need a bailout. Mulally recapitalized the company through private markets, and got it back on its feet.
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Wow. Just wow.

So investors like him because he's old and did a good job at Ford (not because he simplified their profile, but because they didn't have a million GM-like rebadged cars). Yes that makes so much sense for him to run a software (kinda hardware) company?! Ugh! MS should've gone private years ago and actually make not-stupid decisions.

(And yes I know there was rebadging w/ Ford/Mercury and lincoln sorta, but it was nothing compared to GMs huge lineup of nearly the same cars)
 
Yeah, true. It's not like he has multiple degrees including a Master's in aeronautical engineering and another Master's from MIT. Oh wait, he does. Also worked at Boeing before Ford, so I guess he is a "hardware" guy. I remember the previous news thread about Microsoft's top internal picks where I basically stated their best option would be an outside guy who had engineering and business experience along with age (they had internal candidates that met one or most of those requirements, but not all). It was also clear they needed a turn-around guy who had recent experience. Quite honestly, I think they did much better than expected.
 
The only potential risk of a choice like this is his age ... at 68 how long would he want to endure the rigorous task of rebuilding an empire ... they definitely need an outsider to get their politics under control and if they can find someone who can be their own Chief Creativity Officer then they should do okay under any strong leader ... as the old saying goes, "A manager gets things done, a leader does the right things" ... they need a little of both right now ;)
 
kbrickley said:
The only potential risk of a choice like this is his age ... at 68 how long would he want to endure the rigorous task of rebuilding an empire ... they definitely need an outsider to get their politics under control and if they can find someone who can be their own Chief Creativity Officer then they should do okay under any strong leader ... as the old saying goes, "A manager gets things done, a leader does the right things" ... they need a little of both right now ;)
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I think he actually would be a good fit in many ways. He's led a large complex company that is very much consumer oriented but has a deep knowledge of engineering, he's an aeronautical engineer and was a key player in the Boeing 700 series. But at his age one would have to wonder just how long we would be around for, it's not like he needs the work.

I really don't think Microsoft is in as bad of spot as many think. They certainly need to clean up their execution and keep up and accelerate the pace in mobile, but I think their overall lineup and strategy looks good. They should have a single platform in Windows RT that runs across all of their devices seamlessly in the next couple of years and they are growing in the mobile space, though from a very small market share. They need more good execution than a new grand vision and execution over the next 5 years will be the key.
 
engineering background? We don't want that, we don't care about things that work well. We care about marketing facade and finding ways to use aesthetic eye-candy to convince people to be eager to get less while paying more.
 
Comics everywhere thank MS for new crashing joke material.
 
What is the lifespan of a CEO anyways? Not typically a long term position it seems.

Just because Ford didn't take any bailout doesn't mean they haven't taken any taxpayers money. There is much more history to the auto industry story then most people care to research.

None of this necessarily means he is not a good candidate, but people are quick to make martyrs.
 
Mulally could be a better pick than most on the short list for the new CEO, He did a hell of job with helping turn Ford around and getting the upper management's head out of their butts and stopping the internal bleeding < financial wastes and pocket Stuffing>and inside fighting that was going on there ... He help turn around Boeing which was falling apart and he help stabilize that company and while there he had his hand in the design and roll out of the 777. He's been on advisory boards of NASA , USAF Scientific Advisory Board which has ties in NASA , MIT board , U.S. National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of England&#8217;s Royal Academy of Engineering the man is a big NERD ... this should help MS out.
 
He is only being pushed by activist investors that think he will sell Xbox and Bing so that they will make a quick buck at the expense of long term vision.
 
Anyone noticed how these CEO are in a constant game of swapping chairs at the top of big corporations?
I wonder where Balmer will end up next.
 
If it came down to picking a CEO between Mulally and Nokia's CEO, I would pick Mulally given what he has done for Ford.
 
The only thing I can foresee a problem with this is his age. Other wise hes a well respected CEO.
 
I am still not impressed with Ford vehicles.

And yes, I have ridden in newer ones that seem to have glaring problems that should have been fixed before the vehicle was ever put into production.

I am glad that they are not part of Govenment Motors, and I am just as equally unimpressed with GM cars past about 1980.

Those of you who don't work on your own cars have no idea how crappy the quality of a lot of the components in cars are.
 
Mulally's pushing 70 by now, and I'm not sure that he wouldn't just stay with Ford if he wanted to keep working for that much longer.

Not seeing it tbh.
 
Falling Anvil said:
Mulally's pushing 70 by now, and I'm not sure that he wouldn't just stay with Ford if he wanted to keep working for that much longer.
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Money tends to be a strong motivation. I am sure he is well off, but future growth potential of MS leveraging into new markets could offer a great return on his likely offered options. He would be a good CEO for a transition period of half a decade or so. IMHO they need to have someone with a clear longterm focus or that is what I would want as I am a long term type.

I think he could bring a much needed vision to Microsoft... as imho that is what they are lacking.
 
JFK's Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, also came from FORD, & we all know how well that worked out.

just sayin'
 
Hmmm, very interesting. It's a coin flip as to whether or not MS can lure him over or if he'll stay at Ford, imo. As far as his capability to get MS back on track, I think he's a good pick. He's an old-school kind of tech guy and MS needs to get back to it's OS roots (read: take off and nuke Metro from orbit).

aShrubbery! said:
I wonder where Balmer will end up next.
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He's a sales expert, so Best Buy...look at all the wonderful things their past sales expert CEO Brian Dunn did for them!
*rimshot*
 
Wonderful. An Automotive CEO to become the CEO of a software and computer hardware computer. I wonder what kind of value this guy will know how to add. Probably none. As the CEO game goes, he's likely good friends with a number of Microsoft investors.

I always get a good kick out of people who like to claim Meyers is doing positives for Yahoo. Yes, their stock price is up but their offerings are still shit and they spent $1B on acquiring a blogging company whose majority yet largely unspoken focus is on pornography hosting. Bravo :rolleyes:.
 
And yo think MS ignores customers now? Just wait till this guy grabs the reigns.

Listening to customers is NOT one of Fords strong points, and he's not afraid to upset customers if the goal is saving money.
 
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