Business 2.0 magazine is running a clever piece about New Power Centers spawned by the Web economy.
Don’t expect utterly penetrating analysis, or anything totally original. It’s not news that Silicon Valley has plenty of competition. But some of the choices are not the usual suspects, for once.
Font size=4>Ballmer Ascendant
When Bill Gates says something outrageous or false, you get the distinct impression that he actually believes what he’s saying. With Steve Ballmer, the new chief executive at Microsoft Corp., it’s the opposite. The more off-the-wall the Ballmer remark, the more you can suspect he doesn’t buy it, either.
That’s just one of the differences between the two men, who are not peas in a pod despite their ultra-close working relationship and friendship over the past few years. Gates is dazzlingly bright, and possesses the best strategic sense of anyone in the technology industry. He’s also shown himself over the years to be utterly ruthless — willing to do or say almost anything to bring his company to prominence and then to keep it there.
Ballmer doesn’t give off that aura of sheer genius, but he’s extremely bright and strategic in his thinking. He’s also plenty ruthless. But Ballmer has a sense of humor, and he’s ultimately a practical person.
The latter quality, I suspect, will work to Microsoft’s favor under the new regime — if Ballmer has the authority to steer the company as he sees fit. I’m betting Microsoft under Ballmer will find a way to settle the antitrust suit with the government, just as the company cut a deal to make the Caldera Inc. antitrust case go away, the settlement of which was announced earlier this week.
Microsoft’s shareholders are winners today.