A report claims that then Cloud EVP Satya Nadella, Tony Bates, along with Bill Gates and the Microsoft board all initially opposed the Microsoft/Nokia deal. _Nadella would later change his mind but Bates remained vehemently opposed. Tony Bates is no longer with the company while Satya Nadella is now CEO. _If this report is true, I have a deepened respect for Steve Ballmer. Bloomberg reports: Ballmer’s relations with the board hit a low when he shouted at a June meeting that if he didn’t get his way he couldn’t be CEO, people briefed on the meeting said. The flare-up was over his proposed purchase of most of Nokia Oyj, and part of an ongoing debate: Should Microsoft be a software company or a hardware company too? Several directors and co-founder and then-Chairman Bill Gates — Ballmer’s longtime friend and advocate — initially balked at the move into making smartphones, according to people familiar with the situation. So, at first, did Nadella, signaling his position in a straw poll to gauge...

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