Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), announced that he will retire from the company’s management within the next 12 months. The announcement immediately led to a 8 percent jump up of Microsoft shares as Ballmer was seen by investors as the biggest obstacle in the development of IT the giant.
Ballmer, who was picked by Bill Gates to lead Microsoft, had not come up with new ideas to develop the IT giant, which gave a chance to other technology giants such as Apple, Google and Facebook to flourish during Ballmer’s tenure at the Microsoft helm.
Ballmer, 57, has held the position of CEO since January 2000, and his fortune is estimated at $15 billion, the value of the stake he holds in Microsoft.
“There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time,” said Ballmer in a statement.
Microsoft currently has a market capitalization of $270 billion, while Apple market cap is $460 billion. Google has a value of $290 billion and Facebook $93 billion. In 2000, Microsoft had a market capitalization of $399 billion, at a time when Google was founded just two years, Facebook did not exist, and Apple had a market capitalization of $15 billion.
A committee of company’s board of directors will be responsible for seeking the future CEO, while founder Bill Gates will be directly engaged in the search of the next head of Microsoft. Ballmer’s successor at the helm of Microsoft will be sought both within the company and externally.
Ballmer is with Microsoft since 1980 when he was 30th employee of the company. His salary in 2012 was $1.3 million.
Although during his tenure at the helm of Microsoft products such as Xbox launched and he reduced the company’s dependency on PC industry, his biggest “sin” was Ballmer’s failure to increase the company’s share price. His successes have been overcome in the eyes of investors by the failure to capitalize on new technologies and products such as tablets, a market where the industry giant came in only in 2012.
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