Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire as company faces needed shake-up

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire as company faces needed shake-up

Steven Anthony "Steve" Ballmer (born March 24, 1956) is an American businessman who currently serves as the CEO of Microsoft, having held that post since January 2000.As of 2013, his personal wealth is estimated at $15.2 billion, ranking number 19 on the Forbes 400. It was announced on August 23, 2013 that he will step down as Microsoft CEO within 12 months.

Ballmer was initially offered a salary of $50,000 as well as a percentage of ownership of the company. When Microsoft was incorporated in 1981, Ballmer owned 8 percent of the company. In 2003, Ballmer sold 8.3% of his shareholdings, leaving him with a 4% stake in the company. The same year, Ballmer replaced Microsoft's employee stock options program.

In the 20 years following his hire, Ballmer headed several Microsoft divisions, including operations, operating systems development, and sales and support. From February 1992 onwards he was Executive Vice President, Sales and Support. He was then President of Microsoft from July 1998 to February 2001. Ballmer led Microsoft's development of the .NET Framework.

In January 2000, Ballmer was officially named Chief Executive Officer. As CEO, Ballmer handled company finances, however Gates remained chairman of the board and still retained control of the "technological vision" as chief software architect. Gates relinquished day-to-day activities when he stepped down as chief software architect in 2006, while staying on as chairman, and that gave Ballmer the autonomy needed to make major management changes at Microsoft.

In 2009, and for the first time since Bill Gates resigned from day-to-day management at Microsoft, Ballmer made the opening keynote at CES.

Under Ballmer's tenure as CEO, Microsoft’s annual revenue surged from $25 billion to $70 billion, while its net income has increased 215 percent to $23 billion. Although these gains have come from the existing Windows and Office franchises, Ballmer also built new businesses such as the data centers division ($6.6 billion in profit for 2011) and the Xbox entertainment and devices division ($8.9 billion). In terms of leading their company's total annual profit growth, Ballmer’s tenure at Microsoft (16.4 percent) has surpassed the performances of other well-known CEOs such as General Electric’s Jack Welch (11.2 percent) and IBM's Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. (2 percent).

 This diversified product mix has helped to offset the company's reliance on PCs and mobile computing devices; in reporting quarterly results during April 2013, while Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 have not managed to increase their market share above single digits, the company increased its profit 19 percent over the previous quarter in 2012, as the Microsoft Business Division (including Office 365) and Server and Tools division are each larger than the Windows division.The Wall Street Journal has reported that there was tension surrounding the 2000 transition of authority from Bill Gates to Ballmer. Things became so bitter that, on one occasion, Gates stormed out of a meeting in a huff after a shouting match in which Ballmer jumped to the defense of several colleagues, according to an individual present at the time. After the exchange, Ballmer seemed "remorseful", the person said. Once Gates leaves, "I'm not going to need him for anything. That's the principle," Ballmer said. "Use him, yes, need him, no."