Steve Ballmer announced just a few minutes ago that he would be leaving Microsoft within the next 12 months, as soon as the company’s board finds a new successor to lead the technology titan.
While the news itself may be sad or pleasing for people in the IT industry (depending on who you ask), Microsoft shares, however, rose by slightly 9 percent in premarket trading.
At this point in time, the value is at the $34.53 mark.
It is always interesting to take a look at how the market reacts to the news whenever a leader of a major corporation decides to call it a day — it is in many ways a pretty good indication of how investors really felt about the company in general and the leader in general.
And this price surge is clearly a sign that investors are happy about the news, and feel that a new leader will help Microsoft better face the challenges that lie ahead in the future. The technology market is ever changing, and it will be interesting to see what new ideas a new CEO brings to the table.
As far as Ballmer is concerned, he is yet to disclose a reason for his decision to retire.
But it is generally believed that some shareholders have been disappointed with the overall direction the company was heading towards, even as the outgoing CEO recently announced a change in strategy towards a devices and services company.
No word yet on who is coming next after Ballmer. Microsoft is said to be considering both internal and external candidates, and it may take a while for the final decision to be announced.
Hope they don’t bring in one that is worse than the previous just like HP before.