Steve Ballmer |
As Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft announced his retirement on Friday August 23, Microsoft shares soared nearly 7% to $34.69 on Nasdaq.
Since Steve took over the reigns from Bill Gates in 2000, it has not been all rosy. The company was once the most valuable in the world but it has lost more than half of its market. Analysts have been calling for a change in leadership. They felt he contributed to the loss because of his decisions.
Ballmer’s planned exit comes shortly after fund ValueAct Capital Management LP took a small stake in the company, and started agitating for a change in strategy and a clear CEO succession plan.
Some of the decisions that have incurred their wrath include the following:
- Failure to anticipate the mobile computing revolution. Microsoft came into the mobile game rather late with its Windows phone and it didn’t get the much needed traction.
- Abysmal performance of the Windows Vista. The Windows Vista, successor to the Windows XP, didn’t do well. Critics complained that the Operating system was costly and slow.
- Poor performance of the Surface Tablet. I daresay that Microsoft tried to chase Apple’s iPad but it didn’t succeed. It was the first PC that Microsoft designed (first attempt to integrate its new Windows 8 operating system with its own hardware). It did so bad in take-up that Microsoft was recently forced to take a $900 million write-down on excess Surface inventory
Steve Ballmer has to come up with a successor within 12 months upon the completion of a process to choose his successor.