Editing Steve Ballmer (section)

===Retirement===
After saying in 2008 that he intended to remain CEO for another decade, Ballmer announced his retirement in 2013, after losing billions of dollars in acquisitions and on the Surface tablet. Microsoft's stock price rebounded on the news.<ref>[https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/27/ballmer_time_to_go/ "Why Teflon Ballmer had to go: He couldn't shift crud from Windows 8, Surface"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116092647/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/27/ballmer_time_to_go/ |date=November 16, 2018 }}.</ref>

Ballmer says that he regretted the lack of focus on [[Windows Mobile]] in the early 2000s, leaving Microsoft a distant third in the smartphone market [in 2013].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24178512 |title=Microsoft too slow on phones, admits boss Steve Ballmer |date=September 20, 2013 |work=BBC News |access-date=September 20, 2013 |archive-date=April 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230403234432/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24178512 |url-status=live }}</ref> Moreover, he attributed the success of the expensively-priced [[iPhone]]s to carrier subsidies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.recode.net/2016/11/7/13548032/steve-ballmer-apple-iphone-bloomberg|title=Steve Ballmer says Apple's iPhone succeeded because of carrier subsidies. He's wrong.|first=Ina|last=Fried|date=November 7, 2016|access-date=November 8, 2016|archive-date=March 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330093630/https://www.recode.net/2016/11/7/13548032/steve-ballmer-apple-iphone-bloomberg|url-status=live}}</ref> He went on to say,{{Blockquote|People like to point to this quote where I said iPhones will never sell, because the price at $600 or $700 was too high. And there was a business model innovation by Apple to get it essentially built into the monthly cellphone bill.}} Ballmer called the acquisition of the mobile phone division of [[Nokia]] his "toughest decision" during his tenure.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alphr.com/news/387415/ballmer-nokia-buy-was-hardest-decision-at-microsoft|title=Ballmer: Nokia buy was hardest decision at Microsoft|work=Alphr |date=March 5, 2014 |access-date=November 12, 2017|archive-date=May 14, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230514124531/https://www.alphr.com/news/387415/ballmer-nokia-buy-was-hardest-decision-at-microsoft/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Ballmer hosted his last company meeting in September 2013,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24301733|title=Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer dances at tearful send-off|date=September 27, 2013|work=BBC News|access-date=September 27, 2013|archive-date=September 27, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927140524/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24301733|url-status=live}}</ref> and stepped down from the company's board of directors in August 2014.<ref>{{cite news |first=Alex |last=Wilhelm |title=Steve Ballmer Steps Down From Microsoft's Board |url=https://techcrunch.com/2014/08/19/ballmer-steps-down-from-microsofts-board/?ncid=pushup |work=Techcrunch |date=August 19, 2014 |access-date=August 19, 2014 |archive-date=August 21, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821210122/http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/19/ballmer-steps-down-from-microsofts-board/?ncid=pushup |url-status=live }}</ref>

On December 24, 2014, the ''[[Seattle Times]]'' reported that the [[Microsoft v. Internal Revenue Service|IRS sued]] Ballmer, [[Craig Mundie]], [[Jeff Raikes]], [[Jim Allchin]], Orlando Ayala and David Guenther in an effort to compel them to testify in Microsoft's corporate tax audit. The IRS had been looking into how Microsoft and other companies deal with [[transfer pricing]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2025308578_microsoftirsxml.html|title=IRS demands Ballmer, other Microsoft leaders testify in corporate tax audit &#124; The Seattle Times|publisher=seattletimes.com|access-date=August 26, 2015|archive-date=December 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226032941/http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2025308578_microsoftirsxml.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2015, he and his wife co-founded [[Ballmer Group]], a philanthropic investment company that aims to help children, particularly those in poor families, achieve [[economic mobility]].<ref name=":1" />

In December 2023, ''[[CNN]]'' estimated that Ballmer was set to collect $1 billion in dividends from his ongoing ownership of Microsoft stock, after the company announced an increase in its dividend to $3 per share.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Buchwald |first=Elisabeth |date=December 27, 2023 |title=Steve Ballmer is set to make $1 billion a year for doing nothing {{!}} CNN Business |url=https://www.cnn.com/business/investing/steve-ballmer-one-billion-dividends/index.html |access-date=December 27, 2023 |website=CNN |language=en |archive-date=December 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231227181247/https://www.cnn.com/business/investing/steve-ballmer-one-billion-dividends/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>