BELLEVUE, Wash. — Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said Tuesday the software behemoth is more valuable than the sum of its parts, as he attempted to mollify investors about the company’s slumping stock price.
“I am another frustrated shareholder,” said one investor at the company’s annual shareholders meeting. “Is it time to consider breaking this company up?”
Ballmer, who has been the Redmond, Wash., company’s CEO for 10 years, said such a move would only make it more difficult for the company’s various arms to work together.
“It only means creating a harder time competing for all relevant parties,” he said.
The shareholder questioning comes amid a share-price swoon despite record sales of Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system. Since the beginning of the year, Microsoft shares are down 15 percent as the company struggles with the departure of a number of high-profile executives, a failed line of mobile phones and strong competition from Google and Apple.
Microsoft shares fell 0.9 percent, or 23 cents, Tuesday to close at $25.81.
“I do understand the frustration,” Ballmer told the audience after another investor complained about the stock price and dividend.
But he defended the company’s actions, saying of the company’s dividend as a percentage of earnings or stock price, “we’re absolutely at the top of the rank for all tech companies.”
On Monday, Ballmer announced his sale of 3 million Microsoft shares. Earlier this month, when Ballmer announced the sale of about 50 million shares “to assist in tax planning,” he said he could sell up to 75 million shares total by the end of the year.
