Maybe CEOs shouldn't make strategic decisions - at least if they're as far removed from reality as Steve Ballmer. Here he is on a presumed MS/Yahoo deal:

Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said Thursday that he thinks a Microsoft acquisition of Yahoo Inc. would still "make sense economically" for both companies shareholders.

Yeah, only if you assume no integration issues. Back here in the real world (speaking as someone who watched such an integration attempt up close), it's a lot more difficult. Yahoo's technology stack is radically different than Microsoft's; if you believe that MS would grab Yahoo, and then keep that technology stack running as is, you're delusional.

Any merger of MS and Yahoo will be filled with pain. The fact that Ballmer thinks otherwise indicates that he's been promoted well past his level of competence.

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