Another Call for a Microsoft Board Shakeup

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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After Steve Ballmer announced in August that he will step down as Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) chief executive officer, director John Thompson was put in charge of the company’s efforts to find a new CEO. However, as well as being on Microsoft’s board, Thompson is also CEO of Virtual Instruments, which is a cloud-computing company that sells licenses and devices to Microsoft. Due to that potential conflict of interest, proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis is recommending that Microsoft shareholders vote against the reelection of Thompson to the board.

Thompson is a former International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) executive and was appointed to Microsoft’s board in February 2012. Microsoft’s next shareholder meeting is coming up on November 19. Glass Lewis recommends that shareholders vote to reelect the company’s other eight directors, including Ballmer and chairman and co-founder Bill Gates. Investors are under no obligation to heed the advice of companies like Glass Lewis that make recommendations to shareholders based on corporate governance guidelines.

There has been talk among investors and analysts that for Microsoft to radically reform itself in order to keep up with market leaders like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Gates and Ballmer should go as well. The new CEO can never be truly independent as long as these two men remain on the board. However, after the surprisingly strong results for the most recent quarter, 24/7 pondered what would happen if Microsoft asked Ballmer to stay on as CEO.

Photo of Trey Thoelcke
About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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