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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Art Bechhoefer who wrote (33930)	11/14/1999 1:06:00 PM
From: RTev	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74651

A similar fate will befall Microsoft unless the company leadership recognizes that it's better for shareholders to settle, rather than continue as if nothing is wrong. There is little sign that that will happen anytime soon. Although I didn't attend, reports on last week's shareholder meeting indicate that it was the usual love-fest. I too believe that the worst course for Microsoft is the most likely course -- continued litigation of this case. It will cause a dilution of focus that is dangerous for the company and will cause occasional dilutions of stock value, but even these occasional valleys won't be enough to prompt a shareholder rebellion because the stock will rebound. It may never fly like it would if the case were settled, but it will rebound. You've said that the failure to settle is caused by ego. I agree. But it's not just the ego of Gates and the other executives. It's also the corporate ego. Microsoft's considerable success is built on a unique corporate personality. Enemies are identified and targeted. Everyone at the company is expected to contribute to the battle. Truce is not an option. That attitude is now built into the genes of the company. I suspect that the executives tell employees to forget about the case and focus on their products, but it would be difficult to make that happen. There is no clear "enemy" today other than the government. Lotus, WordPerfect, IBM's OS/2, and Netscape no longer pose significant competitive threats. Sun's Java and Linux are still out there, but pose a more diluted threat. The unitary threat that Microsoftees have been trained to identify and subdue is now a legal threat. Unless a settlement can be painted as a victory for Microsoft, it would be a hard blow to that corporate ego.