Balmer became the CEO right at the peak of the tech bubble. He couldn't (nobody could) possibly have maintained that sort of valuation. It was all hype and irrational exuberance.
It really wasn't the loss post-bubble that was Ballmer's issue, it was that the stock price was stagnant.
Re:Ending the cult of the CEO
by novembermike on Tuesday April 25, 2017 @11:02AM
(#14194125)
Balmer's reign also coincides almost perfectly with the anti-trust actions taken against Microsoft. He was given the worst Microsoft to do anything with.
MSFT Market cap when Ballmer announced he was leaving: $270B
That was the problem... even if the initial valuation was ridiculously inflated by the early tech bubble, post-crash, the stock was pretty stagnant throughout his tenure as CEO.
http://fortune.com/2013/08/23/steve-ballmers-market-cap-prob...