Steve Ballmer's Bonus Slashed Due To Microsoft's Mobile Failures

Although the company reported a record $62.5 billion in revenue, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer took a hit for Microsoft's recent mobile failures and was awarded only half of his maximum bonus payout.

Ballmer was eligible to receive a bonus worth 200% of his base salary, but was awarded only half of his potential bonus, or $670,000 in cash, bringing his total compensation for the 2010 fiscal year up to $1.34 million

Documents submitted to the SEC by Microsoft noted that the company's board considered "the unsuccessful launch of the Kin phone; loss of market share in the company's mobile phone business; and the need for the Company to pursue innovations to take advantage of new form factors," among other information, in determining Ballmer's bonus.

Business Insider points out,

You may recall that Microsoft canceled its Kin mobile phone project after just 79 days; that Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform has seen its market share decimated by Apple, RIM, and Google; and that Apple's iPad and tablets running Android are a huge threat to the Windows line, which generates a massive percentage of Microsoft's profit.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft and AT&T will unveil a line of phones running Microsoft's revamped mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7, October 11. (Read early reviews of Windows Phone 7).

Ballmer has also said that Microsoft is working on a rival to Apple's iPad. "Just like we had to make things happen on netbooks, we've got to make things happen with Windows 7 on slates, and we're in the process of doing that as we speak," the CEO said earlier this year, adding, that developing a tablet is "job one urgency around here."

Comments

[LittleMittens]

05:47 PM on 10/04/2010

Well, let's hope steve doesn't have to slumm it too badly after only making $1.34 million this year...good on microsoft for being the only major company to give their ceo LESS of a bonus, based on poor performance...

[Steve Lane]

09:24 AM on 10/04/2010

Poor guy he will struggle to survive on that paltry income!

[catbyte]

08:28 AM on 10/04/2010

Oh, however will he scrape by on only $1.3M/year? Should we open a PayPal account for donations?

PHHHHHHHHHTTTTTTTTTT

[brownfrown]

08:51 AM on 10/04/2010

Wonder how much taxes he'll actually pay on that?

[catbyte]

09:27 AM on 10/04/2010

Probably less than I do.

[blaising]

08:03 AM on 10/04/2010

"...developing a tablet is "job one urgency around here."

Jeez, what a dinosaur Ballmer is. Does he have any ideas of his own, or does he always copy the creative ideas of others?

[bridgeman]

07:58 AM on 10/04/2010

Socialist swine...how dare them not over compensate him.

[johnjohn1234]

07:44 AM on 10/04/2010

Imagine that, bonuses tied to performance. The outrage!

[DharmaRecruit]

07:05 AM on 10/04/2010

Software/web developer and proud user of Microsoft products every step of the way. By all means, people, have fun sitting there staring at your Linux boxes and struggling to understand why it just won't go mainstream. In the meantime I'll continue to develop sites and software that actually help people get things done (and in some cases, games for people to enjoy). Enjoy your anti-Microsoft groupthink if that's what helps you sleep at night.

[Daoine]

07:02 AM on 10/04/2010

Goodness...there may be tears. Honest.

[CommonSenseForChange]

06:21 AM on 10/04/2010

Hey Microsoft, how's that lay-off Americans to hire cheaper H1Bs thingie working out for ya?

[Beaupedia]

08:00 AM on 10/04/2010

"...the company reported a record $62.5 billion in revenue..."

[CommonSenseForChange]

08:41 AM on 10/04/2010

Don't be fooled. That's due to their buy-backs. Microsoft is in a downward trend and losing market share and can no longer innovate.

See here: http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-09-21/business/24013617_1_buybacks-repurchases-interest-rates

"Companies from Microsoft to Hewlett-Packard are taking advantage of low-cost financing, purchasing their stock to boost per-share earnings at a time when the Standard & Poor's 500 index trades at a 26 percent discount to its average valuation since 1954. At the same time, choosing buybacks may show executives are too concerned about the economy to invest in new projects or make acquisitions."

Now, why would anybody be concerned about the economy? Nothing to do with lay-offs or cheap imported labor on H1B, right?

[mspink]

04:00 AM on 10/04/2010

Poor guy--hope he can survive. And as soon as Netflix is workable on Linux--I am so outta Windows forever.

[flashfyre]

03:25 AM on 10/04/2010

Like the Railroads and AT&T, Microsoft is likely a federally approved monopolist.

The USG made smoky rooms deals over 100 years ago with the Railroads and AT&T for issues of national security, and now when you look at federally approved operating systems it's a short list with Microsoft at the top. Rarely does the Federal government allow non-MS software anywhere.

Consider the "all show" anti-trust  trial in the late nineties that did nothing (indeed, the President at the time, Clinton,  is now friends with Bill Gates), the subsequent lack of enforcement of the penalty, the patent wars MS is waging against HTC and Motorola to obtain license fees from them, the long history of Microsoft's predatory lawsuits and perjury.

Microsoft is the darling of the Federal Government and is constantly being given favorable treatment by the courts and the executive branch. Do not trust anything they say or do, it's likely some type of scheme.

[Beaupedia]

08:02 AM on 10/04/2010

How is there even a comparison? AT&T and the railroads were monopolies because consumers had no choice. I can get in my car and drive to 3 stores within a 10 minute drive and buy a Mac. I can also go to thousands of Web sites and download (for free) one of many variations of Linux. There's simply no comparison. Consumers have choice, they just choose Windows.

[Alain Giguere]

08:11 AM on 10/04/2010

You’re too young to remember.

[flashfyre]

01:16 PM on 10/04/2010

Many people tried to subvert the AT&T and Railroad monopolies, but at the end of the day the apologists (like yourself) and the legal infrastructure favoring the product and the government anointed  robber baron (in this case Bill Gates) won. Not just once, but many times for many decades. Next the robber baron wraps himself in philanthropy to reform his image in the media. This is what we are observing now with the B&M Foundation. Government rulings constantly favor and build the MS monopoly and betray the public good by refusing to apply the law or enforce previous legal decisions against MS. The Federal Govt's creation and support of Robber Barons like Bill Gates directly contradicts the Constitution and is a crime like no other.

[Titus Pullo]

01:53 AM on 10/04/2010

Go Terps!

[Poorsarah]

01:49 AM on 10/04/2010

He won't starve and suffer from malnutrition; he'll be okay...sniffle, sniffle

[ThomasPaine1776]

01:47 AM on 10/04/2010

Anything more than 100,000 is showing off. TAX THE RICH! Its OUR MONEY. We're ENTITLED to it. We need to take what is rightfully ours. Seriously. People are actually DYING of CURABLE diseases, but for lack of money to pay for it. Meanwhile, useless slobs like this "Steve" guy take home BILLIONS. F him. Time for a revolution.

[mspink]

03:57 AM on 10/04/2010

Ah, you speak of revolution but what will you put in its place? As the Who rightly said, "Meet the new boss--same as the old boss."

[barrada nicto]

05:49 AM on 10/04/2010

A new tax policy doesn't necessarily mean revolution.

[ThomasPaine1776]

07:57 AM on 10/04/2010

The People. I propose that the PEOPLE be in charge. Demos Kratos = People Power.

[NJProgressiveIndie]

01:28 AM on 10/04/2010

"Ballmer was eligible to receive a bonus worth 200% of his base salary, but was awarded only half of his potential bonus, or $670,000 in cash, bringing his total compensation for the 2010 fiscal year up to $1.34 million..."

Wow. I guess Stevie will be joining the 99ers and filing for bankruptcy...

[CommonSenseForChange]

06:24 AM on 10/04/2010

Put another way, he only got his bonus for laying off Americans and importing cheaper labor on H1Bs. Silly Americans thought the difference in profits gained by Microsoft would be passed along to the customers. Silly Americans!

[brownfrown]

08:50 AM on 10/04/2010

How many people did they bring in with H1Bs?