So he criticized her and threatened her board position, and then she orchestrated a coup to oust him? Masterful. Moves and countermoves. You have to applaud her strategic acumen, and execution capability, perhaps surprising given her extensive background in policy/academia. Tho maybe it's as Thiel says (about academia: "The battles are so fierce because the stakes are so small") and that's where she developed her Machiavellian skills?

Of course, it could also be that whatever interest groups she represents could not bare to lose a seat.

Whether initiated by her or her backers (or other board forces), I can't see any of the board stepping down if these are the kind of palace intrigues that have been occurring. They are all clearly so desperate for power they will cling to the positions on this rocketship for dear life. Even if it means blowing up the rocketship so they can keep their seat.

Microsoft can't spend good will erasing the entire board and replacing it, even tho it's near major shareholder because too much values the optics around its relationship to AI right now.

A strong, effective leader in the first place would have prevented this kind of situation. I think the board should be reset and replaced with more level headed, less ideological, more experienced veterans...tho picking a good board is no easy task.