Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer cried and danced to a Michael Jackson song as he bid an emotional farewell to thousands of employees at his last company meeting in charge.
The 57-year-old will step down from his role as CEO as soon as a suitable replacement is found, and is expected to go within the next 12 months.
He danced to Michael Jackson’s Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ – the song he played at his first company meeting in 1983 – on stage at the 17,000 capacity Key Arena in Seattle and declared "I’ve had the time of my life!" as the famous Dirty Dancing song played.
According to The Verge, Ballmer told employees: "We will deliver the next big thing… we will change the world again.
"I want to say thank you… this isn’t about any one person. It’s about a company that’s important, that’s forward thinking, that’s innovative."
He is also understood to have been critical of Microsoft’s competitors, including Amazon, Google and Apple, but it is those same companies which are ahead of Ballmer’s firm in the mobile device market.
Ballmer recently admitted regret at not being faster off the mark to enter the device market, being too focused on Windows in the early 2000s.
Names being mentioned for the top job include Ford’s Alan Mulally and Nokia’s Stephen Elop, who will return to Microsoft when its acquisition of the handset maker goes through later this year.
Elop will become the beneficiary of a controversial £16m payoff, of which 70% will be funded by Microsoft, after stepping down as Nokia CEO.
(Picture: J. D. Ferreiro)
