Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to Retire Within Next 12 Months
Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer, who has struggled to adapt to an era of declining personal-computer sales, will retire after more than a decade leading the world’s largest software maker.
Mr. Ballmer, 57, plans to step down within the next 12 months, Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said today in a statement. Microsoft’s lead independent director, John Thompson, will lead the search for his successor, heading a committee that will also include Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
Mr. Ballmer, who took over the CEO role from Gates in 2000, has been working to bolster Microsoft’s performance in areas like mobile computing as consumers gravitate to smartphones and tablets — and away from the PCs that have long been powered by Microsoft’s flagship Windows software. Last month, he presided over the biggest reorganization of Microsoft in a decade in a bid to speed development of hardware and services as the company’s Windows business suffers from the shrinking PC market and poor demand for Windows-based mobile devices.
