????比爾?蓋茨是否正在醞釀著重返他創(chuàng)立的那家標(biāo)志性公司,？
????傳奇創(chuàng)始人重返商場(chǎng),，匡扶步履蹣跚的公司早有先例。蓋茨或許已注意到他的西雅圖鄰居霍華德?舒爾茨所取得的成功：這位《財(cái)富》雜志（Fortune)2011年度商界風(fēng)云人物重返傷痕累累的星巴克公司（Starbucks）,，并成功地促使其再次崛起,。此外，邁克爾?戴爾,、史蒂夫?喬布斯和拉里?佩奇也有過王者歸來,、重振公司的經(jīng)歷。
????這同樣也不是投資者第一次流露出這樣的念頭,。今年年初,，綠燈資本公司（Greenlight Capital）的維權(quán)投資人大衛(wèi)?艾因霍恩曾公開表示,，現(xiàn)任CEO史蒂夫?鮑爾默是拖累公司股價(jià)下跌的因素之一，從而引發(fā)了蓋茨有可能回歸的傳聞,。但在公開場(chǎng)合,，蓋茨對(duì)此的反應(yīng)一直都很冷淡，并早在2010年的時(shí)候就曾予以駁斥,。今年6月份,，他在接受《每日郵報(bào)》（Daily Mail）采訪時(shí)再次表示，比爾和梅林達(dá)?蓋茨基金會(huì)（Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation）“是我現(xiàn)在的工作”（艾因霍恩拒絕接受本文作者的采訪）,。
????一位著名的CEO在接受《財(cái)富》采訪時(shí)稱,，他從一位接近蓋茨的人士那里聽聞蓋茨或許正在進(jìn)行這樣的考慮。對(duì)于蓋茨本人而言,，這當(dāng)然是一個(gè)他未曾料到的大膽舉動(dòng),。但除此之外，微軟公司（Microsoft ）能夠從中獲得什么收益呢,？
????鮑爾默執(zhí)掌微軟的10年間,，該公司股票的表現(xiàn)一直令人失望。在表現(xiàn)最好的1999年年底,，微軟每股股價(jià)接近60美元,。當(dāng)鮑爾默于2000年1月份接任CEO的時(shí)候，股價(jià)依然在50美元以上,。隨著科技股泡沫的破滅,，微軟的股價(jià)急劇下跌。除了2007年末曾短暫反彈至35美元以上,，2008年金融危機(jī)期間跌破20美元大關(guān)之外,，在這10年的大部分時(shí)間里，微軟的股價(jià)都徘徊在25美元左右,。在這10年間,，鮑爾默將手頭的大量股票變現(xiàn)，比爾?蓋茨則逐漸退出了公司的日常運(yùn)作（他最后一個(gè)完整的工作日是在2008年6月份）,。在此期間,，微軟的股價(jià)一直波瀾不興，而甲骨文公司（Oracle）和蘋果公司（Apple）等競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手的股價(jià)卻大幅攀升,。
????蓋茨能否推動(dòng)微軟停滯不前的股價(jià),？有這種可能。CEO的人事變動(dòng)往往會(huì)促使公司股價(jià)出現(xiàn)跨躍式改善,，位于西雅圖市的華盛頓大學(xué)福斯特商學(xué)院（Foster School of Business）院長(zhǎng),、金融學(xué)教授加拉德?哈福德這樣說道。哈福德認(rèn)為，甚至在新的CEO真正接掌公司之前,，投資者就預(yù)先判定管理層的更迭將提升公司股價(jià)（大約在一年以后,，投資者就需要看到新上任的CEO留下的印記）?！笆返俜?鮑爾默讓許多投資者倍感失望,，”里昂證券亞太市場(chǎng)部(CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets）的埃德?馬奎爾補(bǔ)充說?！坝行┎粷M情緒是有道理的,，有些或許沒有。但肯定有一種看法認(rèn)為,，鮑爾默需要為公司股價(jià)的表現(xiàn)不佳負(fù)責(zé),。”
????再者,，創(chuàng)始人能夠?qū)T工隊(duì)伍施加一種影響,。哈福德認(rèn)為，創(chuàng)始人往往具有額外的分量,，可以不受約束地執(zhí)行他們的設(shè)想,。他援引了谷歌（Google）的例子：該公司創(chuàng)始人之一、現(xiàn)已接任CEO的拉里?佩奇正在“削減無價(jià)值的組織層級(jí)”,，以恢復(fù)該公司的發(fā)展勢(shì)頭。里昂證券的馬奎爾說,，鮑爾默或許欠缺那種具有穿透力的大局觀,。他指出：“婦人之仁成不了大事?！彪m然鮑爾默在管理無數(shù)的部門和數(shù)以千計(jì)的員工方面做得很好,，但他缺乏喬布斯或蓋茨這種人所能傳達(dá)的某種訴求。 |
|
|
????Is Bill Gates mulling a comeback to the iconic company he founded?
????It wouldn't be the first time a legendary founder stepped back into the fray to right his faltering company. Perhaps Gates has noticed the success of his Seattle neighbor Howard Schultz, who returned to a badly bruised Starbucks (SBUX) only to help it surge. (Schultz was Fortune's 2011 Businessperson of the Year.) Michael Dell, Steve Jobs and Larry Page all pulled similar maneuvers.
????It wouldn't be the first time investors had flirted with the notion, either. Early this year, activist investor David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital publicly called current CEO Steve Ballmer a weight dragging down the company's share price, prompting the rumor that Gates might return. But Gates has been cool to the idea publicly, rebuffing it in 2010 and again this year in June, when he told the Daily Mail his work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation "is my job now." (Einhorn declined to comment for this story.)
????One prominent chief executive told Fortune he'd heard from someone close to Gates that he might be considering such a move. Aside from an unexpected and bold final act for Gates, what could Microsoft (MSFT) gain from such a move?
????The company's stock price has been a thorn in Ballmer's side for a decade. At the end of 1999, Microsoft's best year for market price, shares were at almost $60. When Ballmer took over as chief executive in January 2000, the stock was still over $50. With the burst of the tech bubble, Microsoft's stock dropped steeply and hovered around $25 area through much of the decade, excepting a short rally above $35 in late-2007 and a dip under $20 during the 2008 financial crisis. Ballmer dumped much of his stock during the decade and Bill Gates gradually left daily operations. (Gates' last full day was in June 2008.) During that time, the stock stayed flat as competitors such as Oracle (ORCL) and Apple (AAPL) saw huge gains in their share price.
????Could Gates goose the moribund stock price? Possibly. Any CEO turnover tends to jumpstart improvement in a company's stock price, says Jarrad Harford, finance professor and chair at the University of Washington's Foster School of Business in Seattle. According to Harford, investors anticipate the company's value under new management even before the executive actually takes over. (New CEOs have about a year before his or her imprint needs to be visible to investors.) "There's a lot of frustration among investors with Steve Ballmer," adds Ed Maguire of CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets. "Some is merited, some may not be. But there's certainly a perception that Ballmer is responsible for the under-performance of the stock."
????Then there's the effect a founder can have on the troops. Founders are generally free to execute their vision with added "gravitas," Harford argues. He points to Google (GOOG), where co-founder and again-CEO Larry Page is "cutting through the organizational muck" to restore the company's momentum. Ballmer might lack that incisive big-picture vision, says Maguire at CLSA. "You don't have the benevolent dictator," he notes, adding that while Ballmer handles the active management of myriad divisions and thousands of employees well, he's missing some of the messaging of a Jobs or Gates. |
