AP
In case you missed it Friday,
Swisher says ValueAct's board seat is related to Ballmer's departure, despite Microsoft trying to convince people otherwise. She also says another shoe is going to drop at Microsoft.
You can read her full story here.
On Twitter, Swisher dropped a few nuggets that are more interesting than what's in her story.
They are:
1. Microsoft's next CEO will be an external candidate. The two best internal candidates are Satya Nadella, who runs Servers & Tools, the powerful, fast growing enterprise business at Microsoft, and Tony Bates, who was CEO of Skype and is now in charge of deals. Neither will get the gig, says Swisher. It will be someone from the outside, and it will happen sooner than later because Ballmer has been turned into a lame duck and Microsoft needs a leader.
2. Microsoft is not going to spin out Bing. Microsoft has lost ~11 billion through its Online Services Division. A big part of that is Bing, its search engine. Lots of people want Microsoft to sell Bing (perhaps to Marissa Mayer at Yahoo?) but according to Swisher's sources, that's unlikely to happen. Bing is now integrated in Windows, and its also used in other parts of the business, so it makes sense that Microsoft wants to hang on to it. The online group just needs to be more efficient.