... but what about Steve Ballmer and the repeated, embarassing flops during his tenure at Microsoft? He’s the evil twin doppelganger of John Sculley, as far as I can tell.
Care to speculate?
Microsoft’s profit margin and net profit have increased under Ballmer, rather nicely. And a dividend has started as well... Microsoft has a profit margin that is the envy of pretty much every tech company.
A CEO is to make sure a company is profitable and increases those profits, and do so in a way that it is the company - and not a singular personality - that’s seen as the source of success. If Ballmer dies tomorrow, there will be very little net effect on the image or success of Microsoft. Can the same be said of Jobs?
Apple IS Jobs; Microsoft is NOT Ballmer. That makes Apple much more prone to a “cult of personality” type success...