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Ballmer’s record of being wrong about the future remains unblemished

Published Jul 14th, 2015 6:15PM EDT
Worst Steve Ballmer Predictions Amazon

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Even though he hasn’t been the CEO of Microsoft for a while now, that hasn’t stopped Steve Ballmer from making incorrect predictions about the future of the tech industry. Bloomberg reminds us that Ballmer just last fall told PBS’s Charlie Rose that online retail giant Amazon wasn’t even a real business because it didn’t consistently turn a profit.

RELATED: Ballmer’s final blunder may cost Microsoft billions

“They make no money, Charlie,” Ballmer told Rose. “In my world, you’re not a real business until you make some money.”

Around the time that Ballmer said this, Amazon’s stock price was badly slumping and was down to under $290 per share. Ever since then, however, Amazon’s share price has done nothing but go up and today it stands just a tick below $470 per share.

Of course, the oft combustible Ballmer over the years became notorious for his incorrect predictions about the tech industry. He famously said that the iPhone had “no chance” of gaining any market share, that Google couldn’t possibly be successful for Android because the company was giving it away for free, and that Dropbox was just a “little startup” despite the fact that it now has hundreds of millions of users.

At any rate, we’d actually love to see Jim Cramer invite Ballmer onto his CNBC show to make weekly technology prognostications. If Ballmer is down on an up-and-coming tech company, then that means it’s time to buy, buy, buy.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.