The hedge fund manager who back in May called for Ballmer’s removal from the CEO position at Microsoft, has now purchased more shares in the company.
David Einhorn, the hedge fund manager who publicly called out Steve Ballmer, has now reverted course and purchased more shares of the company. According to the Seattle Times, Einhorn"s Greenlight Capital increased its shares in the company from 9.1 million to 14.8 million shares as of June 30th.
For a manager who does not believe that Ballmer is doing a good job, the additional purchases seem to indicate that maybe David is biting his tongue. In May, Einhorn scolded Ballmer by saying that he is the reason that Microsoft’s stock is doing so poorly.
It could be that Einhorn sees the value of Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 launch. Also, with Nokia now landing a deal to sell Windows Phone devices on China Mobile, Microsoft has a lot going for it at this time.
While it is true that Microsoft has not experienced rapid gains on its stock performance over the ten years of the Ballmer reign, the company has had many notable product launches. If Microsoft can propel Windows Phone and regain significant market share, Microsoft’s profitability will turn higher on these lofty bets.