BALLMER: Of Course Microsoft Has A Succession Plan In Place

One of the things that stood out from Microsoft's big reorg: There's no clear-cut number two at the company right now.

CEO Steve Ballmer made power at the company more diffuse, which ends up giving him more control, and leaving no clear heir to the CEO throne.

(Side note: this is probably for the best. The last CEO-in-waiting at Microsoft was pushed out, as was the CEO-in-waiting at Apple. If you think the CEO is on the hot seat, the waiting-in-the-wings-to-take-over is an even hotter seat.)

Anyway, in an interview with the Seattle Times, Ballmer addressed the idea that Microsoft doesn't have a succession plan in place. He says it's nonsense:

Our board always has a succession plan.

The specifics of what our board is thinking is confidential. But I can say our board has put a lot of time and energy into the notion of both longer-term succession, as well as what I’d call the “what if the CEO gets hit by the bus” succession.