EARLY EXIT FOR BALLMER AMID COURSE CHANGE AT MICROSOFT

c.2013 New York Times News Service

SEATTLE — Steven A. Ballmer, who took over as chief executive of Microsoft in 2000 from its co-founder, Bill Gates, announced Friday that he would retire from the company within the next 12 months, somewhat sooner than he had anticipated and leaving no obvious successor.

Ballmer, who joined Microsoft in 1980, will be departing a company that is very different from the fearsome software giant of the 1990s. During his tenure as chief, the company has failed to capitalize on some of the most important tectonic shifts in technology, including the rise of mobile devices and Internet search.

Ballmer also watched as Apple, an old nemesis that nearly went bankrupt in the late 1990s, and Google, which didn’t even exist until then, have soared.

As chief executive, he has faced regular calls for his ouster from investors and analysts in recent years because of the company’s missteps. But Microsoft said the decision to leave the company was entirely Ballmer’s.

“There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time,” Ballmer said in a statement.

Ballmer, 57, will stay on until a successor is chosen by a special committee of the board that includes John W. Thompson, the board’s lead independent director, and Gates, Microsoft’s chairman. The committee will consider both internal and external candidates and has hired an executive search firm to scout for a replacement.

This year, Microsoft announced a major restructuring aimed at making the company more nimble and less prone to infighting. Ballmer has said the shake-up will help remake Microsoft into a “devices and services” company, one that pays greater mind to blending its software with hardware — and, in some cases, makes devices itself.

Ballmer said that he was leaving earlier than planned because he believed the company needed an executive who would remain well beyond that transition.

“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,” Ballmer said. “We need a CEO who will be here longer term for this new direction.”