Book Description
In recent years, Microsoft has become more than just Bill Gates’s company. Steve Ballmer is now the CEO, overseeing a Goliath that has been plagued by a federal antitrust trial, an employee exodus prompted by the dot-com revolution, and an ongoing economic downturn. But Microsoft has not only survived; it has thrived, prospering to the point that it is the second most recognizable brand in the world (behind Coca-Cola). Bestselling author Robert Slater explains exactly how the company has adapted in the last few years, taking readers into Microsoft’s inner circle to tell an amazing story of persistence in the face of adversity. Slater describes the many changes that have led to a new corporate culture, a new strategic direction, new product lines, and new ways of doing business worldwide. There have been many books about Microsoft over the years, but this one brings the story right up to the present, with fresh insights and information. Slater was granted unprecedented access to the company’s notoriously press-shy top brass, including extensive interviews with Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer.

About the Author
Robert Slater is the author of more than twenty books, among them the recently released The Wal-Mart Decade and the national bestsellers Jack Welch and the GE Way and Get Better or Get Beaten. He was a reporter with Time magazine for two decades.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

As late as 2002, there was widespread doubt whether Microsoft would be able to recover from the massive antitrust lawsuit that the Justice Department had pursued against it since 1998. The media and the business world watched skeptically, remembering a similar lawsuit that had almost leveled IBM in the early eighties. But Microsoft was not destroyed by the antitrust case, nor was the software giant significantly affected by the worldwide recession that nearly shattered countless technology companies. Instead, Microsoft defied the naysayers and pulled off a business miracle. In ways no one else believed would work, a global titan completely reinvented itself. Microsoft Rebooted picks up where all the previous Microsoft books leave off. Bestselling author Robert Slater explains exactly how the company has adapted in the past few years, taking readers into Microsoft's inner circle to tell an amazing story of persistence in the face of adversity. Slater describes the many changes that have led to a new corporate culture, a new strategic direction, new product lines, and new ways of doing business worldwide.

With unprecedented access to key players, including extensive interviews with Chairman Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer, Slater goes behind the closed doors of one of the world's most extraordinary companies, revealing its inner workings. For example: The dramatic scene in which a defiant Bill Gates refused to settle the antitrust lawsuit and instead pointed his finger at the speaker-phone and demanded that lead Microsoft attorney William Neukom "fix it." The real reason behind Gates's decision to step down as CEO that no Microsoft employee would admit in public. The contentious four-day retreat for senior managers that served as a turning point in the company, when rancor erupted over how Microsoft should improve its customer relations. The controversial accusation by Eric Benhamou, chairman of 3Com, that Microsoft hadn't changed since the antitrust trial, using "promises, bribes, and threats" to undo a licensing agreement with a major PC manufacturer in China.

SYNOPSIS

In recent years, Microsoft has become more than just Bill Gates￯﾿ﾽs company. Steve Ballmer is now the CEO, overseeing a Goliath that has been plagued by a federal antitrust trial, an employee exodus prompted by the dot-com revolution, and an ongoing economic downturn. But Microsoft has not only survived; it has thrived, prospering to the point that it is the second most recognizable brand in the world (behind Coca-Cola).

Bestselling author Robert Slater explains exactly how the company has adapted in the last few years, taking readers into Microsoft￯﾿ﾽs inner circle to tell an amazing story of persistence in the face of adversity. Slater describes the many changes that have led to a new corporate culture, a new strategic direction, new product lines, and new ways of doing business worldwide.

There have been many books about Microsoft over the years, but this one brings the story right up to the present, with fresh insights and information. Slater was granted unprecedented access to the company￯﾿ﾽs notoriously press-shy top brass, including extensive interviews with Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer.