During the Steve Ballmer era, Microsoft failed to capitalize on major technology waves including search, mobile, and social media, leading to a period of stock price stagnation.

Steve Ballmer identifies Microsoft's failure to establish a strong position in the mobile phone market as a significant strategic miss during his tenure as CEO.

Under Steve Ballmer's leadership, Microsoft launched its cloud platform, Azure, and appointed Satya Nadella to lead the division to accelerate its cloud strategy.

During Steve Ballmer's tenure as CEO, Microsoft's revenue and profit increased, even though its stock price remained largely flat.

Ben Horowitz states that under Satya Nadella's leadership, Microsoft has become an exceptionally good partner, a significant change from the Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer eras.

Rajesh Jha credits former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer with showing "incredible courage" by committing the company fully to the cloud transition despite significant internal skepticism.

Under Satya Nadella's leadership, Microsoft's revenue, profit, and market capitalization have all increased by more than three times.