Court docs: Ballmer vowed to 'kill' Google

Court docs: Ballmer vowed to 'kill' Google
Published: September 2, 2005, 1:07 PM PDT
By Ina Fried
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer vowed to "kill" Google in an
expletitive-laced, chair-throwing tirade when a senior engineer told
him he was leaving the company to go work for Google, the engineer
claimed in court documents made public on Friday.

The allegation, filed in Washington state court, is the latest salvo in
an increasingly nasty court fight triggered when Microsoft executive
Kai-Fu Lee jumped to Google in July in what Microsoft claims is a
violation of a one-year, non-compete agreement.

In a sworn statement made public Friday, Mark Lucovsky, another
Microsoft senior engineer who left for Google in November 2004,
recounted Ballmer's angry reaction when Lucovsky told Ballmer he was
going to work for the search engine company.

"At some point in the conversation, Mr. Ballmer said: 'Just tell me
it's not Google,'" Lucovosky said in his statement. Lucovosky replied
that he was joining Google.

"At that point, Mr. Ballmer picked up a chair and threw it across the
room hitting a table in his office," Lucovosky recounted, adding that
Ballmer then launched into a tirade about Google CEO Eric Schmidt. "I'm
going to f***ing bury that guy, I have done it before, and I will do it
again. I'm going to f***ing kill Google." Schmidt previously worked for
Sun Microsystems and was the CEO of Novell.

Late Friday, Ballmer issued a statement disputing Lucovsky's
declaration. "Mark Lucovsky's account of our conversation last November
is a gross exaggeration of what actually took place," Ballmer said.
"Mark's decision to leave was disappointing and I urged him strongly to
change his mind. But his characterization of that meeting is not
accurate."

The Lukovsky declaration is the latest salvo in the heated battle
between Google and Microsoft over Google's hiring of Lee. Google has
said Microsoft is attempting to scare its employees away from Google.

In the filing made public Friday, Google also said in the filing that
if Lee is allowed to join the company before a trial he will not "work
or consult in any of the technical areas identified in Microsoft's
proposed preliminary injunction. Rather, pending tiral, he will open a
product development center in China, and staff it with non-Microsoft
personnel."

Meanwhile, in separate court documents also made public Friday,
Microsoft said e-mails that Kai-Fu Lee sent to Google executives
bolster its case that the researcher is seeking to violate his
employment contract by taking up a position as head of the search
giant's China efforts.

According to the filing, Lee sent a May 7 e-mail to Google's founder
and chief executive saying that he had heard Google was opening a China
office and expressing interest in discussing the matter. In the e-mail,
Lee described himself as "Corporate VP at Microsoft working on areas
very related to Google," Microsoft reveals in the court documents.

Microsoft also notes that, in the same e-mail, Lee linked to his
corporate biography, which Google has cited as evidence that Lee's work
was not directly related to the work he would do at Google.

In addition, the filing for the first time notes the size of Lee's pay
package from Google. Microsoft says the search company agreed to
compensation "worth in excess of $10 million, including a $2.5 million
cash 'signing bonus' and another $1.5 million cash payment after one
year, a package referred to internally at Google as 'unprecedented.'"

The document is part of Microsoft's argument as to why a judge should
issue a preliminary injunction preventing Lee from taking a position at
Google that would compete with his work at Microsoft until a trial can
be held in the case. A hearing on the injunction request is planned for
Tuesday in King County Superior Court in Seattle. The judge hearing the
case has already granted Microsoft's request for a temporary
restraining order preventing Lee from doing such work for Google until
Tuesday's hearing.

Plans by Google to hire Lee sparked an immediate legal battle between
the two companies, which have increasingly emerged as one another's top
competitors. The search company announced on July 19 that it was hiring
Lee to head a new China research center, with Microsoft immediately
suing to block the move.

Google filed a countersuit in California court to invalidate the pact
with Microsoft. That case has been moved to federal court in San Jose.

Microsoft's request for the injunction was filed some time ago, but
only made public on Friday after both sides had an opportunity to
redact confidential information.

A representative for Microsoft did not comment beyond the filing. A
Google representative was not immediately available for comment.
(Google representatives have instituted a policy of not talking with
CNET News.com reporters until July 2006 in response to privacy issues
raised by a previous story.)

In the latest documents, Microsoft also charges that Lee began advising
Google on China recruiting and China strategy while he was still
working on those issues for Microsoft.






Previous Next "In early June 2005, Dr. Lee engaged in active e-mail
correspondence with Google employees...regarding specific candidates
that Google was considering--or candidates Dr. Lee wanted them to
consider--for Google's China R&D facility," Microsoft said in the
filing. "Dr. Lee gave detailed feedback and Google acted on his
recommendations."

The filing cites examples of Lee's work on Microsoft's China strategy,
including a white paper titled "Making it in China: strategic
recommendations for Microsoft." The software maker said it was
"surprised and disappointed" to learn that Lee had forwarded an edited
version of that paper to Google on June 7, while he was still a
Microsoft employee. The version he sent, the Windows maker said,
removed the "Microsoft Confidential" notation as well as credit to
other Microsoft contributors and the chapter entitled "recommendations
for Microsoft."

Microsoft also said in the filing that Lee also "advised Google on the
possibility of recruiting candidates in China from Microsoft" noting
that Intel and Microsoft were the best opportunity to get technological
leads for projects, but that recruiting from both would be difficult.
Microsoft also cites an e-mail response Lee got from Google Vice
President Omid Kordestani, in which the Google executive writes that
"it was nice talking to you and learning about your insights into a
successful approach to Google's operations in China."

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