Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to Retire Within Twelve Months ⇥ microsoft.com

Huge news out of Redmond today; not sure how I missed it:¹

Microsoft Corp. today announced that Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer has decided to retire as CEO within the next 12 months, upon the completion of a process to choose his successor. In the meantime, Ballmer will continue as CEO and will lead Microsoft through the next steps of its transformation to a devices and services company that empowers people for the activities they value most.

Ballmer has been a controversial, huge figure in tech. Whatever his missteps have been, I’ll miss him for being a livable buffoon. Maybe this will allow Microsoft to adopt a much more unified strategy, though.