By Mikey Campbell
Published: 08:24 PM EST (05:24 PM PST)
Microsoft allegedly blocked its former data center manager from joining Apple after reportedly being hired by the company in April to oversee iCloud operations.
In a report released on Friday, sources close to the situation revealed that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer allegedly
threatened legal action against Apple if the company went through with the reported hiring away of data center chief Kevin Timmons, according to
Business Insider.
Timmons was unhappy working in Redmond and wanted badly to return to California, reportedly asking Apple for a job by offering a plan to lower the operating cost of its existing data centers. He was asked to stay by his bosses and co-workers at Microsoft, but "had an attitude" when Ballmer finally talked with him about the situation, said a
Business Insider source.
Although Apple liked the pitch and agreed to hire the data guru, a rumored call from Ballmer threatening legal action ended Timmons' would-be deal.
It was reported earlier this year that Timmons had been
hired by Apple in April and was thought to have been tapped to oversee Apple's iCloud at the company's
North Carolina data center. But when the
service rolled out on Oct. 12 there was no sign that Timmons had worked on the project. Five days later it was revealed that Timmons took a job as the
new CTO of CyrusOne, an enterprise data center solutions provider owned by Cincinnati Bell.
Meanwhile, Apple appears to have hired
hired Scott Noteboom, Yahoo's former vice president of data center engineering. According to his LinkedIn profile, Noteboom has been listed as a "Distinguished Gentleman" at Apple as of October.
