Editing Steve Ballmer (section)

===Chief executive officer (2000–2014)===
[[File:Steve Ballmer MWC 2010.jpg|thumb|upright|Ballmer at the Mobile World Congress 2010]]

On January 13, 2000, Ballmer was officially named the chief executive officer; he would shed the title of president in February 2001.<ref name="ms bio" /><ref name=":0">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/602708.stm |title=Steve Ballmer, friend of Bill |work=BBC News |date=January 13, 2000 |access-date=January 12, 2017 |archive-date=May 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528170710/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/602708.stm |url-status=live}}</ref> As CEO, Ballmer handled company finances and daily operations, but Gates remained chairman of the board and still retained control of the "technological vision" as chief software architect.<ref>{{cite web |last=Farber |first=Dan |date=August 26, 2013 |url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57600098-75/bill-gates-steve-ballmer-and-the-parting-of-the-ways/ |title=Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and the Parting of the Ways |website=CNET News |access-date=September 4, 2013 |archive-date=August 27, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827013318/http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57600098-75/bill-gates-steve-ballmer-and-the-parting-of-the-ways/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Gates relinquished day-to-day activities when he stepped down as chief software architect in 2006, while staying on as chairman, and that gave Ballmer the autonomy needed to make major management changes at Microsoft.<ref name="businessweek1">{{cite news|last=Vance |first=Ashlee |author-link=Ashlee Vance |url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/steve-ballmer-reboots-01122012.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112174846/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/steve-ballmer-reboots-01122012.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 12, 2012 |title=Steve Ballmer Reboots |work=Businessweek |date=January 12, 2012 |access-date=June 14, 2013}}</ref>

When Ballmer took over as CEO, the company was fighting an antitrust lawsuit brought on by the U.S. government and 20 states, plus class-action lawsuits and complaints from rival companies. While it was said that Gates would have continued fighting the federal suit, Ballmer sought to settle these, saying: "Being the object of a lawsuit, effectively, or a complaint from your government is a very awkward, uncomfortable position to be in. It just has all downside. People assume if the government brought a complaint that there's really a problem, and your ability to say we're a good, proper, moral place is tough. It's actually tough, even though you feel that way about yourselves."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/12/11/for-steve-ballmer-a-lasting-touch-on-microsoft/?iid=SF_F_River |work=CNN |title=For Steve Ballmer, a lasting touch on Microsoft |access-date=December 13, 2013 |archive-date=December 16, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216195458/http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/12/11/for-steve-ballmer-a-lasting-touch-on-microsoft/?iid=SF_F_River |url-status=live }}</ref>

Upon becoming CEO, Ballmer required detailed business justification to approve new products, rather than allowing hundreds of products that sounded potentially interesting or trendy. In 2005, he recruited [[B. Kevin Turner]] from [[Walmart]], who was the president and CEO of [[Sam's Club]], to become Microsoft's chief operating officer.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lohr |first1=Steve |title=Microsoft Shops at Wal-Mart for an Operating Chief |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/05/technology/microsoft-shops-at-walmart-for-an-operating-chief.html |website=The New York Times |date=August 5, 2005 |access-date=February 20, 2017 |archive-date=May 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530060739/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/05/technology/microsoft-shops-at-walmart-for-an-operating-chief.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Turner was hired at Microsoft to lead the company's sales, marketing, and services group and to instill more process and discipline in the company's operations and salesforce.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bass |first1=Dina |title=Microsoft's Nadella Reshapes Top Management as Turner Leaves |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-07/microsoft-s-nadella-reshapes-management-team-as-turner-leaves |website=Bloomberg.com |date=July 7, 2016 |access-date=March 11, 2017 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308121146/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-07/microsoft-s-nadella-reshapes-management-team-as-turner-leaves |url-status=live}}</ref>

Since Bill Gates' retirement, Ballmer oversaw a "dramatic shift away from the company's PC-first heritage", replacing most major division heads in order to break down the "talent-hoarding fiefdoms"; in 2012, this led ''[[Businessweek]]'' to say that the company "arguably [had] the best product lineup in its history". Ballmer drove Microsoft's "connected computing" strategy with acquisitions such as [[Skype]].<ref name="businessweek1" />

Under Ballmer's tenure as CEO, Microsoft's share price stagnated<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/ballmer-era-stock-price-2013-8 |title=Microsoft's Stock Chart Under The Ballmer Era |access-date=June 13, 2018 |archive-date=April 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230403233017/https://www.businessinsider.com/ballmer-era-stock-price-2013-8 |url-status=live }}</ref> even as the company's annual revenue surged from $25&nbsp;billion to $70&nbsp;billion, while its net income increased 215% to $23&nbsp;billion, and its gross profit of 75 cents on every dollar in sales was double that of [[Google]] or [[IBM]].<ref name="wsj2"/> With the company's total annual profit growth of 16.4%, Ballmer's tenure at Microsoft surpassed the performances of other well-known CEOs such as [[General Electric]]'s [[Jack Welch]] (11.2%) and [[IBM]]'s [[Louis V. Gerstner Jr.]] (2%).<ref name="businessweek1"/> These gains came from the existing Windows and Office franchises, with Ballmer maintaining their profitability, fending off threats from competitors such as [[Linux]] and other [[Open-source software|open-source]] [[operating system]]s and [[Google Docs]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2013/08/microsoft-steve-ballmer-and-the-art-of-monopoly.html |title=Steve Ballmer and the Art of Managing a Monopoly – The New Yorker |date=August 26, 2013 |publisher=newyorker.com |access-date=August 26, 2015 |archive-date=March 27, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327133145/http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2013/08/microsoft-steve-ballmer-and-the-art-of-monopoly.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Ballmer also built half a dozen new businesses,<ref name="wsj2"/> such as the data centers division and the [[Xbox]] entertainment and devices division ($8.9&nbsp;billion),<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-21/microsoft-unveils-new-xbox-in-widening-home-entertainment-battle.html |title=Microsoft Unveils New Xbox in Bid to Lead Home Entertainment |author1=Dina Bass |author2=Cliff Edwards |name-list-style=amp |publisher=[[Bloomberg News]] |date=May 21, 2013 |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 11, 2017 |archive-date=July 30, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140730005638/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-21/microsoft-unveils-new-xbox-in-widening-home-entertainment-battle.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Fortune">[http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/12/11/for-steve-ballmer-a-lasting-touch-on-microsoft/?iid=SF_F_River Fortune] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216195458/http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/12/11/for-steve-ballmer-a-lasting-touch-on-microsoft/?iid=SF_F_River |date=December 16, 2013 }}</ref> and oversaw the acquisition of Skype. Ballmer also constructed the company's $20&nbsp;billion Enterprise Business, consisting of new products and services such as [[Microsoft Exchange Server|Exchange]], [[Windows Server]], [[History of Microsoft SQL Server|SQL Server]], [[SharePoint]], System Center, and [[Dynamics CRM]], each of which initially faced an uphill battle for acceptance but have emerged as leading or dominant in each category.<ref name="Fortune"/> This diversified product mix helped to offset the company's reliance on PCs and mobile computing devices as the company entered the [[post-PC era]]; in reporting quarterly results during April 2013, while [[Windows Phone 8]] and [[Windows 8]] had not managed to increase their market share above single digits, the company increased its profit 19% over the previous quarter in 2012, as the Microsoft Business Division (including [[Office 365]]) and Server and Tools division (cloud services) are each larger than the Windows division.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bott |first=Ed |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/apple-versus-microsoft-the-ticker-tape-tells-the-tale/ |title=Apple versus Microsoft: the ticker tape tells the tale |work=ZDNet |date=April 26, 2013 |access-date=June 14, 2013 |archive-date=October 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020160216/http://www.zdnet.com/apple-versus-microsoft-the-ticker-tape-tells-the-tale-7000014556/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="wsj2">Ovide, Shira. (August 25, 2013) [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324906304579035141246779898 "Next CEO's Biggest Job: Fixing Microsoft's Culture"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404003540/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324906304579035141246779898 |date=April 4, 2023 }}. ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]''. Retrieved on September 4, 2013.</ref>

Ballmer attracted criticism for failing to capitalize on several new consumer technologies, forcing Microsoft to play catch-up in the areas of tablet computing, smartphones and music players with mixed results.<ref name="businessweek1" /><ref name="wsj2" /> According to ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', under Ballmer's watch, "In many cases, Microsoft latched onto technologies like smartphones, touchscreens, 'smart' cars and wristwatches that read sports scores aloud long before Apple or Google did. But it repeatedly killed promising projects if they threatened its cash cows [Windows and Office]."<ref name="wsj2"/> Ballmer was even named one of the worst CEOs of 2013 by the [[BBC]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20131212-the-worst-ceos-of-2013 |title=Worst CEOs of 2013 |access-date=June 13, 2018 |archive-date=March 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190314031712/http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20131212-the-worst-ceos-of-2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> As a result of these many criticisms, in May 2012, hedge fund manager [[David Einhorn (hedge fund manager)|David Einhorn]] called on Ballmer to step down as CEO of Microsoft. "His continued presence is the biggest overhang on Microsoft's stock," Einhorn said in reference to Ballmer.<ref>{{cite news|title=Hedge Fund Star Einhorn Calls for Microsoft's Ballmer to Go|agency=Reuters|publisher=Fox Business|url=http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2011/05/26/hedge-fund-star-einhorn-calls-microsofts-ballmer/#ixzz27Bx2W6m5|access-date=September 22, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116121416/http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2011/05/26/hedge-fund-star-einhorn-calls-microsofts-ballmer/#ixzz27Bx2W6m5|archive-date=January 16, 2013}}</ref> In a May 2012 column in ''[[Forbes]]'' magazine, Adam Hartung described Ballmer as "the worst CEO of a large publicly traded American company", saying he had "steered Microsoft out of some of the fastest growing and most lucrative tech markets (mobile music, headsets and tablets)".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2012/05/12/oops-5-ceos-that-should-have-already-been-fired-cisco-ge-walmart-sears-microsoft/3/ |work=Forbes |first=Adam |last=Hartung |title=Oops! Five CEOs Who Should Have Already Been Fired (Cisco, GE, WalMart, Sears, Microsoft) – Forbes |access-date=September 15, 2017 |archive-date=September 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908074957/https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2012/05/12/oops-5-ceos-that-should-have-already-been-fired-cisco-ge-walmart-sears-microsoft/3/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2009, and for the first time since Bill Gates resigned from day-to-day management at Microsoft, Ballmer delivered the opening keynote at [[Consumer Electronics Show|CES]].<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/jan/08/steve-ballmer-ces-keynote |title=Ballmer unveils Windows 7 at CES |work=The Guardian |date=January 8, 2009 |access-date=January 12, 2017 |archive-date=February 4, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204035755/http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/jan/08/steve-ballmer-ces-keynote |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Steve Ballmer - MIX 2008.jpg|thumb|Ballmer at [[MIX (Microsoft)|MIX]] in 2008]]

As part of his plans to expand on [[Computer hardware|hardware]], on June 19, 2012, Ballmer revealed Microsoft's first ever computer device, a tablet called [[Microsoft Surface]] at an event held in Hollywood, Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2012/06/18/microsoft-live-from-hollywood |work=Forbes |first=Eric |last=Savitz |title=Microsoft: Live From Hollywood! Introducing Microsoft Surface Tablet (Updated) |access-date=September 15, 2017 |archive-date=November 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113010431/https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2012/06/18/microsoft-live-from-hollywood |url-status=live }}</ref> He followed this by announcing the company's purchase of [[Nokia]]'s mobile phone division in September 2013,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.co.uk/information-technology/2017/06/microsoft-hardware-company-steve-ballmer/|title=Steve Ballmer: We should have turned Microsoft into a "world-class hardware company"|date=May 31, 2017|access-date=November 12, 2017|archive-date=November 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113060103/https://arstechnica.co.uk/information-technology/2017/06/microsoft-hardware-company-steve-ballmer/|url-status=live}}</ref> his last major acquisition for Microsoft as CEO.

On August 23, 2013, Microsoft announced that Ballmer would retire within the next 12 months. A special committee that included Bill Gates would decide on the next CEO.<ref>Chaudhuri, Saabira (August 23, 2013). [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324165204579030611858818656 "Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to Retire Within 12 Months"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209051426/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324165204579030611858818656/ |date=February 9, 2017 }}. ''The Wall Street Journal''.</ref>

There was a list of potential successors to Ballmer as Microsoft CEO, but all had departed the company: [[Jim Allchin]], [[Brad Silverberg]], [[Paul Maritz]], [[Nathan Myhrvold]], [[Greg Maffei]], [[Pete Higgins (businessman)|Pete Higgins]], [[Jeff Raikes]], [[J. Allard]], [[Robbie Bach]], Bill Veghte, [[Ray Ozzie]], [[Bob Muglia]] and [[Steven Sinofsky]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Woody|first=Leonhard|title=Microsoft's 13 worst missteps of all time|url=http://www.infoworld.com/d/microsoft-windows/microsofts-13-worst-missteps-of-all-time-210521|date=January 14, 2013|work=InfoWorld|access-date=January 12, 2017|archive-date=August 29, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140829005423/http://www.infoworld.com/d/microsoft-windows/microsofts-13-worst-missteps-of-all-time-210521?|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Leonhard |first=Woody |url=http://www.infoworld.com/t/technology-business/game-of-thrones-the-men-who-would-be-ballmer-207313 |title=Game of thrones: The men who would be Ballmer |work=InfoWorld |date=November 19, 2012 |access-date=June 14, 2013 |archive-date=May 13, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513164536/http://www.infoworld.com/t/technology-business/game-of-thrones-the-men-who-would-be-ballmer-207313 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[B. Kevin Turner]], Microsoft's [[Chief Operating Officer]] (COO), was considered by some to be a ''de facto'' number two to Ballmer, with Turner having a strong grasp of business and operations but lacking technological vision.<ref>Turner, Kevin. [https://money.cnn.com/gallery/technology/2013/08/26/microsoft-ceo-ballmer-replacements.fortune/6.html "Who will succeed Steve Ballmer at Microsoft?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213185602/http://money.cnn.com/gallery/technology/2013/08/26/microsoft-ceo-ballmer-replacements.fortune/6.html |date=December 13, 2013 }} ''Fortune'' / CNN. Retrieved September 4, 2013.</ref> On February 4, 2014, [[Satya Nadella]] succeeded Ballmer as CEO.<ref name=nadella/>