Steve Ballmer
CEO, Microsoft
As Bill Gates leaves his day-to-day work at Microsoft after June, the company’s CEO, Steve Ballmer, will be shouldering even more responsibility. And the spirited but savvy Mr. Ballmer has plenty on his plate, notably the struggle with Google over search and advertising that led him to seek the takeover of Yahoo. But there are other challenges. How can Microsoft keep Windows vital and dominant after the disappointment of Vista? Will the whole Windows and Office franchise become irrelevant if key applications move into the cloud? Will Microsoft have to do in cellphones what it was forced to do in music players–build its own devices to better compete with Apple, abandoning its software-only strategy?
