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Watching this Corporate Mogul battle between Microsoft and Yahoo reminds me a little of the Star Wars movies, well at least the first 3 ... which were actually the last 3 in the series.

Now I'm confused as hell!

Anyway, you have the evil empire, Microsoft, trying to sway the young but fairly powerful Jedi, Yahoo, into joining its ranks.

You have powerful Business Moguls on both sides representing the Evil Empire and the Jedi's.

Darth Vader?

Business Mogul Steve Ballmer is the CEO of Microsoft.

So he, of course, would represent the equivalent of Darth Vader. The powerful menacingly evil Ballmer/Vader leads a seemingly unbeatable well-oiled onslaught against the rag-tag Jedi's/Yahoo.

If Ballmer is Vader, I guess that means the evil emperor is Bill Gates!

Business Mogul Jerry Yang represents Luke Skywalker, de facto leader of the Jedi Nation. He is younger than Ballmer/Vader. He leads a company that is much younger than Microsoft/Evil Empire. And he seems at first glance ill-fitted to advance his troops successfully against the Moguls of the Empire.

But this metaphor is not a cut-and-dry representation.

After all, do Microsoft and Mogul Steve Ballmer truly represent all that's evil in the business world?

Do Mogul Jerry Yang and Yahoo really represent all that's good in the business world?

Of course not!

Trying To Avoid History's Trash Heap!

So, my fellow Mogul Wannabees, what's wrong with Microsoft's Moguls making an unsolicited and unfriendly takeover run at a vulnerable company that holds a better position in a fast-growth sector?

Actually, Microsoft seems hell-bent on avoiding the mistakes of other former high-flyers that subsequently perished or stumbled badly into near irrelevancy or 2^nd tier citizenship in the face of major technology and industry changes.

This prestigious list includes:

The Business Moguls that ran the whip and buggy firms

IBM

AT&T

GM

Old Media Moguls

So, for your edification, I thought it would be just a little instructional to take a brief snapshot of the Moguls behind the Microsoft vs. Yahoo battle.

This time I look at Steve Ballmer. Next time I'll look at Jerry Yang.

The Ballmer

Business Mogul: Steve Ballmer

Company: Microsoft

Position: CEO since 2000

College: Undergrad - Harvard Univ.; Grad - Stanford (dropped out)

Personal Worth: About $15,000,000,000 ; # 43 on Forbes 2008 Billionaire list

Major Accomplishment: Keeping Microsoft from total irrelevancy in the last 8 years

Major Failure: Inability to overtake Google in the fast-growth Internet search market

Major Challenge: Ensuring that Microsoft stays relevant in this fast-changing Web 2.0 world

The future for Steve Ballmer and Microsoft is hard to predict. They'll be around for a while longer of course.

And one thing's for sure, they're desperate not to repeat the same mistakes of other former great companies whose bones are piled up at business waste stations across the land.

The next 5 years will be one Hell-of-a-Fun ride!

And another thing ... Why is it that so many Billionaire Moguls dropped out of school.

Damn!

If I'd only known 25 years ago that that was the real secret to MogulDom!

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