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Steve Ballmer gets egged by Hungarian

by on20 May 2008

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Something about stealing taxpayers' money

During a visit to a University in what appears to be Budapest, Hungary, Steve Ballmer got attacked by an egg wielding local who accused him (or rather Microsoft) of stealing 25 billion Forint (about €100 million) and demanded that Steve Ballmer should "give that money back, right now."

Once he had made his statement, he threw three eggs at Steve Ballmer who ducked behind a desk trying to avoid getting hit. As the local left the room awkwardly, you could read the words "Microsoft = corruption" on the back of the shirt he was wearing. We're somewhat curious to why he was wearing shorts to go with a white shirt, but maybe that's a fashion statement among egg throwers.

He was apparently upset about a deal Microsoft has made with the Hungarian government with regard to it using Microsoft software rather than some kind of alternative.

It's quite hard to hear what the local guy was saying, but we have to give kudos to Mr. Ballmer, who seemed rather unshaken and called it a "friendly disruption." After the incident, someone in the audience asked if it was the first time Steve Ballmer had had eggs thrown at him, and he answered that "it was the first time since 1966" and that it was the first time professionally he'd had eggs thrown at him.

We can't help but feel somewhat sorry for Mr. Ballmer, as he didn't really deserve to get egged, but you can find videos of the event
, all from slightly different angles and with various additional parts.
Last modified on 20 May 2008
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