By STEVE LOHR

Feb 6, NY Times


More than a decade ago, Andrew S. Grove, then the chief executive of Intel, aptly described the hypercompetitive mentality of Silicon Valley in his book title “Only the Paranoid Survive.”

Now, the anxious efforts by Google, led by its chief executive, Eric E. Schmidt, to try to scuttle Microsoft’s $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo may well seem like a bout of Valley paranoia. After all, many industry analysts view the acquisition plan, announced Friday, as a desperation move by Microsoft to buy a bigger stake in the online advertising and Internet search markets, even as it and Yahoo fade further behind Google.

The fast, forceful response from Google is a product of Mr. Schmidt’s history and personality. Mr. Schmidt, 52, had spent much of his career battling Microsoft at Sun Microsystems and Novell, before joining Google in 2001.

His animosity toward Microsoft has long been publicly understated and analytic in quality. At Sun, he stood at an amused distance from the entertaining antics of the chairman, Scott G. McNealy, who railed against Microsoft and its leaders, Steven A. Ballmer and Bill Gates, as “Ballmer and Butthead.”

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photo: Google’s chief executive, Eric E. Schmidt, has dueled with Microsoft over a long career. He fears a raid on Google markets (David Paul Morris/Getty Images)