Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will retire within the next 12 months, the world's biggest software company announced on Friday.

“There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time,” Ballmer said, according to a press release on the company website. “We have embarked on a new strategy with a new organization and we have an amazing Senior Leadership Team.”


The announcement comes at a time of transformation for the computer company and computer industry as a whole, both of which Ballmer himself helped to create. In an internal email sent to the company's employees, Ballmer said the timing of the announcement was chosen intentionally.


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Miicrosoft is in the middle of that exact change.

The advent of tablet computers and the rise of smartphones have seen a dramatic collapse in purchases of new desktop and laptop computers, which have been the company's bread and butter for decades. The recently released Windows 8 operating system was designed as Microsoft's answer to that change, a rethinking of the company's flagship software product to address the demand for tablets.

That effort has been met largely with resistance, with reports that touch-enabled tablet computers have largely sat on store shelves.





The obvious successor -- former Windows head Steven Sinofsky -- got booted by Ballmer, he said.


Microsoft Corp.'s stock is up sharply following the announcement, FoxBusiness reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.