Hedge Fund Titan David Einhorn to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer: Leave!

Hedge fund titan and notorious short-seller David Einhorn has an unsettling suggestion for Microsoft MSFT CEO Steve Ballmer: Leave! Steve Ballmer is the only other CEO to run Microsoft besides Bill Gates. He has been criticized for the company's stagnant stock price and failed efforts in the phone manufacturing market and a potential Yahoo! YHOO acquisition. Speaking at the annual Ira Sohn Investment Research Conference in New York on Wednesday, Einhorn said it was time for Ballmer to leave and "give someone else a chance." "His continued presence is the biggest overhang on Microsoft's stock." Einhorn is the founder of hedge fund Greenlight Capital, a long-short value-oriented hedge fund, which started with $1 million under management in 1996. He has been noted for making money by shorting over-valued companies. He continued: “Microsoft's business has been much stronger than the average company in the S&P in the past five years. Microsoft isn't getting credit for some of its achievements and prospects.” Further torching Ballmer, Einhorn noted Silicon Valley's hatred for Wall Street. “The problem with Ballmer isn't Wall Street. Ballmer's problem is he's stuck in the past.”