Ballmer Finds Leak in Tech Industry Inner Tube

Oh, we’re in trouble now. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer seems to have lost his optimistic outlook on the current economic collapse. And when a guy with a pay package valued at about $1.35 million loses his faith in the tech industry’s “buoyancy,” as Ballmer likes to call it, well, you know things are getting really ugly.

In a Tuesday interview with Reuters, Ballmer said it’s reasonable to assume that the ongoing financial crisis will affect Microsoft (MSFT). “Financial issues are going to affect both business spending and consumer spending, and particularly … spending by the financial services industry,” Ballmer said. “We have a lot of business with the corporate sector as well as with the consumer sector and whatever happens economically will certainly affect Microsoft. I think one has to anticipate that no company is immune to these issues.”