CIO.com Teardown: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer

$13.1 billion. That could buy a few Starbucks Grande Ice Coffees, or a few Starbucks stores.

His bald head and animated speaking style have become his trademarks. His passion for Microsoft is always on display (“I LOOOVE THIS COMPANY!”) and he’s not afraid to lavish praise on revenue generators Windows and Office. But these days, he’s beating the big drum for cloud computing. Microsoft is “All In” for the cloud in case you haven’t heard.

While not as confrontational as Ellison or as condescending as Jobs, Ballmer has been known to smack talk the competition. The trouble is, Microsoft’s marketing messages can get muddled fairly quickly. What is Windows Live again?