Neowin writes former Microsoft executive Joachim Kempin is the latest to slam Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. In his book, Resolve and Fortitude: Microsoft's "secret power broker", Kempin reveals Ballmer is a nuisance to work with and recommends that he should step down from the CEO position to become Microsoft's Chief Operating Officer.
Kempin says that Ballmer has found a way to drive anyone in the company away who Ballmer saw as a threat to his leadership. He stated, "When you work that directly with Ballmer and Ballmer believes 'maybe this guy could someday take over from me', my God, you will have less air to breathe, that's what it comes down to."
He feels that Ballmer should step down from CEO and become its chief operating officer, adding, "I respect that guy (Ballmer), but there are some limitations in what he can and can't do and maybe he hasn't realized them himself."
Kempin was Microsoft's head of Windows OEM sales and worked at the software giant between 1983 and 2002.
