14 DAY TRIAL // ValueAct is the latest major investor that joined the Microsoft shareholder group, as it purchased a $2 billion (€1.5 billion) stake in the Redmond-based technology giant.
Despite rumors that it might try to get rid of CEO Steve Ballmer, ValueAct said that it has no plans to get involved in Microsoft’s business, so it will most likely stay away from the company’s long-term strategy, according to a Reuters report.
Still, ValueAct CEO Jeffrey Ubben admitted in a statement that his company might jump in and help Microsoft executives in case something goes wrong, without providing any specifics. He also added that Microsoft should put the focus on cloud-based services and the Office productivity suite.
ValueAct has become one of the top 20 Microsoft shareholders, as it controls around 67.2 million Microsoft shares, which represents less than 1 percent of the company.