The Microsoft CEO sits down for a profile interview with Businessweek. And although he doesn't reveal much, we do learn he closed down a steakhouse for the night to do the interview.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who is worth about $14 billion, has gone paperless, and truly believes that the only difference between Microsoft and Apple in the mobile market is that the iPhone maker made one right decision--choosing ARM chips for its smartphone, rather than Intel's battery-hogging alternatives.
That's about all you're going to learn about the man in a sprawling seven-page profile from Businessweek. True to his desire to control how Microsoft is perceived by consumers, Ballmer let little go in the profile, and instead tried to keep positive about his company's prospects in 2012, saying the tech giant will have "a reset moment" this year.
For Ballmer, 2012 could prove to be an important turning point in his career. This year will be the one where the world finds out if the Nokia partnership struck last year was a good one. It'll also be the year to find out if Microsoft can make a mark in tablets and sell both consumers and enterprise users on a dramatically redesigned operating system, Windows 8. Perhaps most importantly, as Businessweek's Ashlee Vance indicates in the Microsoft CEO's profile, it'll be Ballmer's year to prove he has the right plan to break Microsoft out of what has become a long-term malaise.
Here are some other tidbits from Ballmer's profile:
Correction at 12:33 p.m. PT Friday: This story initially misstated that Ballmer had closed down a restaurant for his profile interview with Businessweek's reporter. The restaurant was open and the interview took place in a private area of the restaurant.