Steve Ballmer tells Conan why he's so manic
This article, Steve Ballmer tells Conan why he's so manic, originally appeared on CNET.com.
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How do you become so permanently cheery? It's easy. Team Coco screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET
On occasion, some must have wondered what substance caused Steve Ballmer to be so, well, animated.
His insistent bounciness, his somewhat screamy vocal timbre, reminded many of late nights after several too many wines-in-a-box.
The former Microsoft CEO appeared on Conan O'Brien's show on Wednesday night. Conan asked him why he was always so hyper.
The man famous for the refrain "Developers! Developers! Developers!" couldn't contain himself to just one word. He said: "Ice tea! Ice tea! Ice tea!"
So there you have it. If you want to be a permanently bouncy CEO, all you need is ice tea. Allegedly.
Ballmer also revealed that, even though recent relations between him and Bill Gates may have become a touch chilly, they did used to have fun.
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Once, as Conan and his audience saw, Ballmer even got Gates to dress up as Austin Powers. In fact, there's a whole collection of videos of Gates and Ballmer enjoying themselves for internal consumption.
Of course, Ballmer wasn't appearing on Conan's show to talk about the past. He was there to launch the new logo for his second-rate NBA team, the Los Angeles Clippers. (Disclosure: Giddy Warriors fan.)
Now it is this team that benefits from Ballmer's ice tea-fueled passion. Indeed, he explained to Conan that his philosophy has always revolved around the notion of "hard core."
Ballmer said he wanted to incorporate this word into the Clippers' marketing materials. Then he realized what happens when you Google the word. Or, in his preference, Bing it.
Sometimes, no amount of ice tea can overcome some types of human behavior.
