Elop Isn’t the Answer, Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)

Is Elop better than many of the internal candidates that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is considering? Absolutely. Is he the best choice? Absolutely not. Microsoft needs an outsider, and Elop doesn’t count. If the market’s going to get excited enough to justify the stock’s pop the day that Steve Ballmer announced that he would be stepping down, it’s going to have to be a visionary from the outside.

I realize that many will not share my zeal for Reed Hastings or Sheryl Sandberg as the next Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEOs, but the market won’t be satisfied with an internal promotion for a company that needs a serious attitude adjustment. If Elop is named Ballmer’s replacement, it will face the same outcry as Ben Affleck’s casting as the new Batman.

Fans expect more. Investors demand it.

The article Elop Isn’t the Answer, Microsoft originally appeared on Fool.com.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple and Microsoft. 

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