Who is Steve Ballmer? - NDTV

Steve Ballmer, who has been a central figure at Microsoft Corp for more than three decades, unexpectedly announced his retirement as chief executive on Friday, ending a 13-year reign in which the world's largest software company lost its position as the dominant force in computing. Microsoft Corp. said on Friday that CEO Steve Ballmer will retire within the next year. A Michigan native, Mr. Ballmer studied applied mathematics and economics at Harvard, where he first met Bill Gates. He worked two years at consumer products maker Procter & Gamble Co. as an assistant product manager before joining Microsoft. In 1980, Mr. Gates persuaded him to drop out of Stanford Business School to become Microsoft's first commercial manager and the company's 30th employee. To induce him, Mr. Gates offered Mr. Ballmer partial ownership of the company, and when Microsoft incorporated a year later, he had almost an 8 per cent stake. That formed the foundation of his wealth which is now valued at $15 billion according to Forbes magazine. Before becoming CEO, Mr. Ballmer's roles at Microsoft included senior vice president of sales and support, senior vice president of systems software and vice president of marketing. He was named CEO in 2000, taking over the job from Microsoft founder Bill Gates. To date, Mr. Ballmer remains one of the largest holders of Microsoft stock, with about four per cent of the company. His net worth, ironically, soared by nearly a billion dollars on Friday as the stock market celebrated his departure. Often regarded a great salesman rather than a brilliant technologist, Ballmer has faced criticism from investors for years; as rivals led by Apple Inc and Google Inc came to dominate huge new markets in smartphones, tablets, Internet search and cloud computing even as Microsoft remained reliant on the traditional personal computer. (With input from agencies) via Technology - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNG95S6ejRj33LrAS1b_HmDZeD9vyQ&url=http://profit.ndtv.com/news/corporates/article-who-is-steve-ballmer-326244

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