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Steve Ballmer to retire from Microsoft: this week in the economy

Microsoft CEO to retire, market cheers: When Microsoft CEO Steven Ballmer announced Friday that he will retire within the next 12 months, or as soon as a replacement is found, Microsoft stock shot up as much as 9 percent. Wall Street has not been enamored with Microsoft since Mr. Ballmer succeeded founder Bill Gates as CEO in 2000. The software company's value has fallen by more than half in that time – from $601 billion to $270 billion. And while some of that decline can be attributed to the popping of the dot-com bubble, it's also true that Microsoft has fallen behind in key areas of high-tech growth, including Internet search, smartphones, and social media. Read more...