Somebody ask Ballmer how his pet projects at Redmond went and by what keg he stands on...
Ballmer was a blowhard Sales guy. As such, he was a charicature, but in Sales that can be useful.
However, as a CEO he was an unmitigated disaster for the company. His ideas were proven wrong over and over, he rejected things that would have made the company better, and he stubbornly stuck to things that weren't working because of his hubris and stupidity.
I'm so glad he's no longer a major player. Not that that stops him from sounding off like an ass...