| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : SEPTEMBER 6, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
| ||||||||
 | ||||||||
| NEWS: ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY
'I've Had a Lot More Fun in My Career' A chat with Rick Belluzzo about his stint at SGI -- and what's next Two years ago, Richard E. Belluzzo, top dog in Hewlett-Packard's $30 billion-plus printer and computer empire, was every headhunter's dream CEO candidate. He also may have been the most understated superstar in all of high tech. But that's changed now. In January, 1998, Belluzzo shocked the computer industry by leaving HP, where he was heir apparent, to take over beleaguerd computer maker Silicon Graphics Inc. Belluzzo undertook huge cost-cutting efforts and tried to reposition the company for emerging markets, but he failed to return the company to its former glory. On Aug. 23, with SGI's stock unchanged from when he first joined the company, Belluzzo abruptly resigned to take a non-CEO position at an undisclosed company. But don't cry for Rick Belluzzo. The company is Microsoft. Insiders say he'll be named czar of Microsoft's Internet businesses by mid-September and will work closely with Chairman Bill Gates and President Steve Ballmer. While Belluzzo declines to confirm he'll be going to Microsoft, he did talk with Business Week San Mateo Correspondent Peter Burrows about his reasons for leaving SGI, why he wants to make the jump from hardware to the Internet, and his thoughts about becoming a CEO again in the future. Here are edited excerpts from their conversation: Q: I understand that you had grown extremeLy frustrated with the job of fixing SGI. Is that true? A: I feel we made a lot of progress at the company...but it's extremely hard to do a hardware turnaround amid all the goldrush fever out there related to the Internet. It's just really hard to build a good team in that environment, and that was very frustrating for me. I came from a place [Hewlett-Packard] where there was great loyalty and commitment from all levels of the company. So the people side -- having to constanty be worried about people leavin, or of getting people to stay -- was highly frustrating. Q: If so many talented managers want to get in on that Internet goldrush, whatdoes that say about the business of running traditional hardware companies? A: Running these big hardware companies is incredibly complex, and the world doesn't reward you even if you do a good job. Just look at the facts. All the parts of the systems business are being unbundled -- it's Microsoft for software, Intel for chips, EMC for storage, and on and on. The old fashioned company that pulls it all together is a dying breed. Sun has held on pretty well so far, but look at the rest of them. Just ask Lew Platt or Eckhard Pfeiffer [the former CEOs of HP and Compaq Computer, respectively]. So playing that role is not very appealing. Q: I've also been told that the final straw for you regarding SGI came on Aug. 10, after Wall Street knocked SGI's stock down from $16 to $12 after you announced the kind of draconian turnaround moves that usually push stocks upwards. Is that true? A: That was very frustrating as well. After that, I spent some time with SGI's board and suggested how else they might want to go. I suggested maybe they needed some fresh legs. Because this is a marathon they're in, and I was no longer sure I was the best for the job. Q: Would you say your confidence was shaken by the experience? A: I don't know if my confidence has been shaken, but I have had a lot more fun in my career. Q: Why would you be good at managing an Internet company? A: I've demonstrated a lot of versatility in my career. I started in HP's storage business and moved on to printers and then servers and services. So I've done a lot of stuff and taken on a lot of tough competitive battles. Also, I thrived on the consumer side at HP, and I know the importance of brand and marketing. So I think I have all the ingredients. Q: Some say that having gotten a taste of being CEO, that you -- at least for now -- have opted to take a non-CEO position so you can get out of the limelight and get back to what you excelled at at HP: running and growing businesses. A: That's about right. My excitement comes from doing great things that change the world, like when we took the printer world by storm at HP. And I can do that whether I'm CEO or not CEO. It's about the fun thing -- not about the status thing or the ego thing.... Ultimately, it's about winning. Q: So are you going to Microsoft to skirt the tough challenges of fixing SGI? A: I'm not going to confirm where I am going next. But I have managed difficult transitions before. I can handle adversity. I just don't want to make a career out of it. I mean, we're in this new Information Age, and maybe it's time I become a part of it. Q: Do you want to be a CEO again some day? A: There's nothing like being CEO in terms of "the buck stops here" piece of it. The people you meet and the control you have are great. In the right situation, [I'm sure] it's a wonderful experience. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
|  |
 | |
RELATED ITEMS Meet Microsoft's New Net Navigator TABLE: A Winding Road ONLINE ORIGINAL: ``I've Had a Lot More Fun in My Career'' INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online | |||
