is it time for steve ballmer to go? i think there's a good case to be made that given the assets, he's been a good custodian. has he been a visionary compared to someone like steve jobs, i think the question is not. certainly microsoft has held up a lot better than a number of other tech companies. he hasn't done a lot of dumb acquisitions. they are somewhat hamstrung in terms of a special dividend by the amount of cash offshore. i'd argue that a ceo like ballmer probably gets more of a lion's share of the blame for what structurally have been challenges in microsoft's core markets. >> microsoft likes to point out that the servers and tools part of the business has helped buffer the blow but doesn't get the attention it should get. then of course you have xbox and other parts of the business. still you have what appears to be a company. you mention the word custodian. that's not what you want to see as ceo. you want to see execution. you don't want to see failed products. if it's just 25% of the business windows, 25% of

[applause] >> and to introduce our next panelist, i would like to welcome steve ballmer, senior bp -- vp. >> good morning and thank you. next up is governor hickel lipper -- hickenlooper. he is the serieaal a entreprener each of you have in your respective parts. he became very successful in the brew pub business. he never had a single election not even for stink -- a student council. governor? [applause] in keeping with the discussion, he is keen on innovation and things of that nature. i know that will come out. thank you, governor. >> are we all set? i am from the "mercury news," and we're here because we live in a global cloueconomy. it has altered local economies because so many manufacturing and technology jobs are moving, whether it is a matter of costs for going where the trained work force is. we're fortunate to have to governors here to talk about how that change affects their jobs and what they're doing to jump- start their economies which compete with one another. this could be fun. let me start with our guest. governor hickenlooper. i knew that was going to happen. most o

in fact, steve ballmer complained earlier this year that as a result of this rampant intellectual propertyheft microsoft is making less money in china than in the netherlands. >> right. >> i'm not saying that that same fate is going to befall apple but the same danger certainly exists and there's certainly an element of poetic justice here because companies like apple and like microsoft, and all the other outsourcing u.s. companies told us we should dramatically expand business dealings with china even though problems like intellectual property theft were far from being solved. >> you know, max, if apple can't get a deal with china mobile which has 80% of the market, why sell iphone in china at all, especially when we're talking about such rampant piracy itself? >> a good question. speaks to the bigger issue. china mobile wasn't willing to cut the huge kind of subsidy deals that apple relies on with carriers like verizon and at&t and vodafone and the international carriers and, therefore, they are left to pick up the pieces on 15% to 18% of the market. obviously these other players, china

is microsoft ceo steve ballmer toast? so many questions. >>> here's today's "return on retirement."the largest tax expenditures are federal subsidies for 401(k)s, i.r.a.s and other accounts to encourage increased savings. how much will the u.s. spend in tax expenditures on subsidies for retirement savings accounts next year? the answer when we return. when we got married. i had three kids. and she became the full time mother of three. it was soccer, and ballet, and cheerleading, and baseball. those years were crazy. so, as we go into this next phase, you know, a big part of it for us is that there isn't anything on the schedule. well, having a ton of locations doesn't hurt. and a santa to boot! [ chuckles ] right, baby. oh, sir. that is a customer. oh...sorry about that. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. fedex office. so, the 5.3-liter v-8 silverado can tow up to 9,600 pounds? 315 horsepower. what's that in reindeer power? [ laughing ] [ stops laughing ] [ male announcer ] chevy's giving more. this holiday season, trade up to get the 2012 chevy silverado all-star edi

a tough one, one i really anguished over and thought this guy might be number one and that is steve ballmer of microsoft. after years of missteps and playing follow the leader and the windows part of business, which is really only 25% of revenue, windows 8 was the trigger. it just simply hasn't knocked the cover off the ball, and that's after years, as i say, of missteps in this side of the business. in the end, however, the worst ceo easily is groupon's andrew mason. this has been nothing short of a disaster. and from a ceo standpoint i would suspect many would look at him and say a joke, an expensive joke for those who bought in early on the stock, and as i've previously said, this now appears to be a public company in search of a real business or maybe someone to execute what they have. all of this makes you actually really appreciate the good ceos out there, and there are quite a few. i have a number of them along with my worst list in a column right now on cnbc.com. maria? >> herb, we will go to that. what's your reaction to that? >> herb, how big was the universe that you picked these

we'll talk more about apple's slide, should microsoft's ceo steve ballmer get the boot if the surfaceails. and we will introduce to you quite possibly the world's dumbest demolition crew. it involves a multi-million dollar bore chateau and really bad bulldozing. >> yikes. see you at 1:00, brian. thank you. >>> listen up wall street recruiters, a recent rash of college cheating scandals has shown academic dishonesty is unfortunately a very big problem on campus today. who are the worst offenders? tonight's premier of "faking the grade -- classroom cheaters," we'll tell you. they'll find out which students are most likely to cut corners in the battle to gain an edge. >> reporter: don mccabe and his canadian colleague collaborate on research. mccabe says in the u.s. business students cheat the most. engineering students are often near the top of the list. and so are communications and journalism students. women studied at one university said they don't cheat when they're in a women-only class. but when it's a coed group, they say everything changes. >> they said, well, whether we take co

are you listening, steve ballmer? nicole, pre-market, where is the stock?rt, you're making me laugh already and the show has barely begun. you're waiting for your special dividend? clamoring? okay, fine. you may have heard a shriek and a cheer out of the green room earlier this morning when i was getting my makeup done when i saw the headline that microsoft is ramping up production of the surface tablet in order to get it out to third party retailers. here is a look at the stock, it's going to have an up arrow, stuart. >> yeah, i mean, look, out of call of this, they said nothing about a special dividend. let's get that clear. and looks like it's going to be up in the early going, i live in hope, nicole, more proof that the california is the formerly golden state. and tens of thousands leaving and is mike reagan ready to join them in the mass exodus. make it with them. just look at this. there's still room in my house for you in new jersey, okay? >> see you on the 7th. >> stocks will be higher when trading begins at 12:15 eastern time. right around noon tim