Steve Ballmer To Retire As Microsoft CEO Within 12 Months
Baku, August 24 (AZERTAC). In a surprising move today, Microsoft just announced that long-time CEO Steve Ballmer will retire in the coming 12 months. He will stay at the helm of the company until a special committee appoints a new CEO.
“There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time,” Ballmer said in the company’s press release. “We have embarked on a new strategy with a new organization and we have an amazing Senior Leadership Team. My original thoughts on timing would have had my retirement happen in the middle of our company`s transformation to a devices and services company. We need a CEO who will be here longer term for this new direction.”
On July 11, Microsoft announced a major reorganization to focus more on hardware. Ballmer signaled this change after firing Steve Sinofsky. At the time, he said that it was “imperative that we continue to drive alignment across all Microsoft teams, and have more integrated and rapid development cycles for our offerings.”
Instead of separating the company into multiple divisions (Windows, Office, Entertainment, Online…), Microsoft is now divided into functions to serve a single purpose (Operating systems, Devices, Apps and services…), very much like Apple.
That`s why today`s news is even more surprising after Ballmer achieved such a big change for Microsoft. If his successor doesn`t like the ‘One Microsoft’ vision, he or she will have to do another reorganization.
Even before Steve Ballmer`s retirement, commenters talked about a potential CEO for Microsoft. While he was fired recently, Steven Sinofsky was one of the most powerful executives at Microsoft and many regarded him as a Ballmer successor. Julie Larson-Green is another candidate. Microsoft has chosen to announce that Ballmer is on his way out before appointing a new CEO, which may indicate that his departure might come sooner than expected. The newly appointed special committee probably doesn`t have a name for the next CEO yet.
Other news in this section
