Anders Brenna

The CEO of Microsoft was on a secret visit to Norway today.

Microsoft closed the acquisition of the Norwegian search company Fast Search & Transfer yesterday, and Ballmer came to convince the employees that this would be a great opportunity for them and their technology.

Some Fast employees have not been too enthusiastic about beeing bought by Microsoft. I have heard some people comparing it with working for “Lord Voldemort”.

Fast held an internal conference today, and Ballmer’s appearance was supposed to be a secret. They were therefore surprised to see me and my collegue there. It caused a light stirr, but I explained who I was and that my readers at digi.no was mainly interested in hearing about what Mr. Ballmer thought about the formerly Norwegian company.

It’s not exactly a hardball question. After all, he spent his saturday here, and he obviously things Fast is a great company when he bought it.

I gave the security chief my business card, and we chatted for a little while. Then Ballmer came out with a big smile.

He was very happy after talking to the Fast guys, and he truly seemed to love both the company and the technology they deliver.

- Fast is very important for Microsoft, he said.

I only got to talk to him for a minute or two, but it was a fun experience. I wish I could get the opportunity to sit down with him and do a real thorough interview, but it’s hard to get that kind of access to him when you represent a national news site in a small country like Norway.

Here is the story I wrote in Norwegian. It has additional pictures.