The Behrend beacon. (Erie, Pa.) 1998-current, January 21, 2000, Image 3
THE BEHREND BEACON ANUARY 21 2000 PAGE ' WORLD NEWS Bill Gates exits as Microsoft CEO by Andrew Zajac Knight-Ridder Newspapers January 14, 2000 Bill Gates, who dropped out of col lege, co-founded Microsoft Corp., and built it into the world's biggest software company, announced Thursday, January 13, 2000, that he is stepping aside as CEO and ap pointing his longtime friend, com pany president Steve Ballmer, to re place him. Gates will remain chairman and assume a new title chief software architect to focus on the task of improving Microsoft's products for the exploding Internet market. The surprise announcement came only one day after state and federal government lawyers, pressing a land mark antitrust case against Microsoft, reportedly had reached a consensus that the company should be' broken up. Gates' decision could prepare Microsoft for such a breakup. But, in one of his first declarations as chief executive, Ballmer affirmed a rigid company line on the subject. think it would be absolutely reck less and irresponsible for anyone to try to break up this company," he said. "It would be reckless beyond belief." Ballmer, 43, has been increasingly in charge of Microsoft's day-to-day operations for most of the past two years. He will retain his title of presi dent and will be added to the Microsoft board on Jan. 27. Microsoft has made Gates the world's richest man, with a fortune estimated in excess of $BO billion. The company's lavish profits and stock market value of roughly $550 billion have made it the darling of a generation of investors enamored with technology stocks. Thin and pale with an unkempt mop of hair, Gates, 44, frequently has been lampooned as the archetypal computer nerd. But the unassuming exterior masks a ferociously corn petitive drive that has allowed Microsoft's Windows operating sys G.O.P. by Carl P. Leubsdorf Knight-Ridder Tribune January 17, 2000 DES MOINES, lowa Gov. George W. Bush said Sunday that, if elected President, he would take a hands-on role on some aspects of Middle East peace negotiations and leave other details to his secretary of state. "That's a very good question," Bush said when asked on CNN's Late Edition whether he would fol low President Clinton's example. think both, depending on the state of the negotiations." He also said that one of his first acts as President would be to "start the process" of moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, though he acknowl edged that might disrupt peace talks by angering the Palestinians. "I think part of the President's job is to make it clear that's my inten tion," Bush said. "That's exactly what campaigns are meant to be. PAPA JOHN'S VALUE MENU tern to elbow aside rivals and become the basic instruction set for about 90 percent of all desktop computers. The take-no-prisoners attitude flowing from the CEO's office has drawn the attention of outraged com petitors and antitrust regulators for years. In the current antitrust suit, brought by the Justice Department and 19 states, including Illinois, a federal judge in a preliminary ruling in No vember said Microsoft was a preda Steve Ballmer, left, talks about taking over the CEO title at Microsoft as Bill Gates, right, steps out of that position to focus more on developing technology. Gates will retain his chairman of the board status and much of the control of the company. tory monopolist. This judge is set to issue a final ruling in the next couple of months, but in the meantime has appointed Richard Posner, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chi cago, to mediate talks aimed at carv ing out a settlement. It is amid those talks that reports surfaced that government lawyers have reached a consensus about breaking up Microsoft. A govern ment spokeswoman said the account was not entirely accurate, but did not dismiss it. Meanwhile, a report by International Data Corp. on Wednes day, Jan. 12, concluded that breaking up the company would be best for consumers and for Microsoft. Some observers do not see any candidates express views in lowa I've sent a clear signal. That's what I intend to do. What I wouldn't do is ... impose the United States' will on the peace negotiations." The Texas governor answered questions on a variety of foreign and domestic-policy issues during the 40-minute interview taped Fri day in lowa, where the Presidential nominating process formally begins with precinct caucuses on Jan. 24. He sidestepped a couple of ques tions about whether he backs spe cific portions of the 1996 Republi can platform that detail the GOP's opposition to abortion rights. For example, when asked about a pro vision that calls for appointment of judges who respect the "sanctity of life," he replied by citing his own standards for judicial appointments. And when asked about a provi sion in which the GOP talks about applying the 14th Amendment's equal protection under the law to unborn chiliar with what that part of the plank is all about." But he said he favors "protecting unborn Ede Also serving Wesleyvilie 4 11° ' & Harbor Creek ampeam (Next to fiblaywcx3d Video) 824-8282 preparation for breakup in Gates' stepping out of the CEO's office, nor do they see any dramatic change in the corporate course. "I think Gates is still the guy in charge," said Jeff Maxick, who tracks Microsoft for Madison Secu rities in Chicago. "The direction of the company is going to remain the same." The stock market apparently agreed: Microsoft shares rose in af ter-hours trading following Gates' announcement If Gates' decision is being driven by the antitrust case, 'it's just not ob vious to me," said Herb Hovenkamp, a professor of antitrust law at the University of lowa. "We don't know if there is going to be a breakup and where the fault lines are going to be." In stepping aside, Gates said at a news conference that he will concen trate on improving Microsoft's next generation operating systems, in cluding the much delayed Windows 2000, and on serving as a technol- ogy soothsayer. "I'm returning to what I love most focusing on technologies of the future," Gates said. "Steve's promo tion will allow me to dedicate my- children by law." For the most part, Bush reiter ated positions that he has taken in speeches, campaign appearances, seven televised debates and prior interviews. He renewed the criti cism he has expressed about rival John McCain's tax-cut plan, de claring that an ad in which the Ari zona senator opposes using the entire surplus on tax cuts sounded like it could have come from Democratic candidates Al Gore or Bill Bradley. "That sounds like the talk of people in Washington, D.C., who want to keep the money in Wash ington and not pass it back to the taxpayers," Bush said. McCain, who appeared earlier on NBC's Meet the Press, denied that he was adopting any Demo cratic ideas. "It's a matter of pri- orities," he said. McCain, asked whether he had to win the Feb. 1 New Hampshire primary to have a chance for the nomination, said, "I don't know self to my passion, building great software and strategizing on the fu ture." Gates said he has decided to in volve himself more heavily in Internet product development, prompted largely by the competition his company faces from Oracle Corp., IBM Corp.. Sun Microsystems Inc., and the recent megamerger of America Online Inc. and Time Warner Inc., as well as ri val technologies such as Linux. That's the same competitive pres sure Microsoft lawyers have pointed to repeatedly in the antitrust case as a justification for hard-nosed busi ness tactics, hut with little apparent effect so far on the trial judge. But legal issues aside, it's the kind of hyper-vigilance that breeds suc cess in the marketplace, said G. Patrick Dunkerley, of Securities Corp./lowa of Cedar Rapids. "They act like they don't know where their next meal is coming from, — Dunkerley said. "That's a good way to he in technology." Ballmer has been a friend of Gates' since their days as Harvard Univer sity undergraduates in the early 19705. Gates dropped out to co found Microsoft in 1975 with Paul Allen. Ballmer, the son of Swiss immi grants, graduated with a degree in ap plied math and joined Gates at Microsoft in 1980 after a stint at con sumer products giant, Procter & Gamble. Loud and gregarious, Balimer is an energetic counterpoint to Gates. He may have a better tolerance for the acid bath of criticism enveloping Microsoft as a corporate behemoth, which is now saddled with harsh court opinions, according to Charles Rutstein, an analyst with Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass. Said Rutstein: "If you're the rich est guy in the world embroiled in this for so long, you may just throw up your hands and say, 'Why am I tak ing this? Why don't I do what I love?" what the definition of a win is, hut clearly we have to do very well." Meanwhile, Bush's top strategist, Karl Rove, echoed comments made by the governor last week in lowa that set a very low target for suc cess in lowa. "We win by coming in first, in our opinion," Rove said on ABC's This Week With Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts. "Our hope is to meet the highest percentage that anyone has ever gotten in a Repub lican caucus, 37 percent." Recent polls have shown Bush in the mid to high 40s with more than double the support of his closest chal lenger, publisher Steve Forbes. Forbes, appearing on the same show, declined to say how well he hoped to do in lowa, but said that "it will be apparent on the night of the [Jan.] 24th that we made a very strong showing, that this is not go ing to be a coronation, that it's a real contest." The other three GOP candidates, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, Gary Bauer rrnlia CNIFILIPWIEWV AND "The fact that there are 20 tons of co caine not on our streets in the past year] is because of that increased cooperation," Davidow said, referring to two big co caine busts on the Pacific Ocean by the Mexican navy in 1999 operations guided by U.S. counter-narcotics intelli gence. The cocaine seizures were among the biggest in recent Mexican law enforce ment history, touted by officials in both countries as evidence that new police forces and sophisticated intelligence e. ipment put to work in 1999 by Gary Bauer waves as the candidates for the Republican nomina tion for President pose for photos before a debate Saturday. From left are Steve Forbes, Bauer, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, and Sen. John McCain. and Alan Keyes, all appeared on Fox News Sunday. Hatch, who has been in last place in lowa polls, said: "If I can finish in the top four, I'd be doing very 12== Albright praises Mexico as good ally by Ricardo Sandoval Knight-Ridder Tribune January 17, 2(XX) OAXACA, Mexico U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright Sunday praised the Mexican government for recent ef forts to fight illegal drug trafficking a strong sign that the Clinton Administra tion will once again push for certifica tion of Mexico as a good ally in the war on drugs, according to American offi cials. Certification would head off potential U.S. economic sanctions against Mexico but would be sure to anger some U.S. law enforcement officials and their allies in Congress, who believe that Mexico's anti-drug agencies are riddled with cor ruption and are largely ineffective. Calling her meeting with Mexican Foreign Secretary Rosario Green "a turn ing point" in U.S.-Mexico relations, Albright lauded Mexican efforts to strengthen its anti-drug agencies. She and Green said both governments were co operating well in the effort to keep drugs from reaching American cities. Any criticism Albright had was aimed at unnamed people who she said "wish to undermine" the cooperative drug ef fort led by Clinton and Mexican Presi dent Ernesto Zedillo. Each year, as the President and Con gress start grading countries on their work against illegal drugs, sources within U.S. law enforcement agencies and Congress tell reporters of spectacular failures due to corruption and ineptness within Mexico's anti-drug agencies. This spring may bring more of the same, said U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Jeffrey Davidow, but it won't obscure improvement in cooperative drug police work in the last year between the two countries. Penn State Bohrend Students Receive Special Discount On Menu Prices Every Time (No Coupons Necessary) Mexico are paying off. Analysts say Mexico supplies at least 3(X) tons of cocaine each year to Ameri can users, must of it produced in Colom bia. Drugs make their way through the country, guided by Mexican crime bosses who have grown rich and who have spread the wealth via bribes to countless Mexican police, military officials and high-ranking members of Mexico's gov ernment. Such trafficking and corruption irk some American legislators who want to block Clinton's drug certification of Mexico Albright would not predict Mexico's certification status this year, but said that Mexico's recognition of the serious drug threat supports the country's standing. Countries - de-certified" by Congress can lose U.S. financial aid and tlice trade sanctions "Me iCO Nees !drugs] as its principal threat to national seetiritv. - Green said, assuring Albright that Mexicans shared the American i/oal of a "continent free of drugs. We'll do whatever it takes to eliminate this crime.'' Albrighes talks with Green in this co lonial city, 280 miles southeast of Mexico City, wrapped up a three-day swing through Latin America that started in Colombia and included a daylong meet ing with Panamanian President Mil eya Moscoso. Sunday's talks got oft to a good start, American officials said, perhaps because of a morning tour of Monte Alban, a huge archeological site that overlooks pictur esque Oaxaca. Scientists and clear skies that afforded a stunning view of the ag ricultural valley that surrounds the old city greeted the two secretaries at the pre- Colombian center of Mexico's ancient Zapotec Indian tribes. Albright and Green discussed hut did not resolve some knotty issues between the United States and Mexico. The sec- retaries said controversy over reluctance by both countries to alloy, commercial trucks deep into each other's territory will be settled by a panel of officials convened under rules of the North American Free Trade Agreement I NAFIA). And rank ing diplomats of each nation said offi cials continue to work on ways to pre vent the deaths of undocumented fvlexi- can immigrants who try to cross into the United States through rugged deserts. well. If not, well have to look at Knight-Ridder stuff writer G. Rob ert Hillman contributed to this re- You Order