Ballmer and Gates: Here’s why we’re not breaking up Microsoft

Ron

Microsoft’s annual meeting of shareholders in Bellevue this morning was pretty much the standard routine this morning. The company’s nine-member board was reappointed and a lone shareholder proposal was rejected. CEO Steve Ballmer touted the company’s revenue and earnings over the past year. Shareholders complained about the company’s stagnant share price and pressed for a higher dividend. Ballmer talked about Microsoft’s product pipeline and finance chief Peter Klein noted that the company has returned more than $170 million to shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks over the past decade…