[ProAm]

> The company you say is in "total disarray" still made $45.7bn in profit in 2016, and grew its share price by 10%.

Microsoft was very profitable with Ballmer at the helm, but it can be argued he put the company in a very bad position that took them significant effort to fix and right the ship.

[tybit]

Very profitable? Their stock flatlined for a decade while it's peers sky rocketed.

[ProAm]

The stock was flat but they were very profitable. Look here: "Microsoft was very profitable during Steve Ballmer's tenure. As you can see from the chart, revenue doubled and net income doubled as well. Nearly $19 Billion in net income from $62 Billion in revenue is nothing to sneeze at, and that kind of growth is not easy for a company that large." [1]

[1] https://www.quora.com/Did-microsoft-make-a-profit-under-stev...