Ballmer steps down from Microsoft board

Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, stepped down from the company’s board, leaving his replacement Satya Nadella to wrestle with the company’s transition to a more mobile and cloud-focused strategy.

In a letter to Nadella explaining his decision to step down from the board, Ballmer said “there are challenges ahead but the opportunities are even larger”, and that no other company has “the mix of software skills, cloud skills, and hardware skills we have assembled”.

He added that in order to be successful in the mobile-first, cloud-first world (as Nadella calls it), the company needs to monetise through enterprise subscriptions, hardware gross margins, and advertising revenue.

Ballmer said new commitments led to his departure from the board. He recently secured ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball franchise and also plans to teach and make a “civic contribution” as part of his post-Microsoft activity.

The move comes six months after Ballmer stepped down as Microsoft CEO and the former company chief expressed confidence that current management is capable of making the changes needed.

Ballmer remains the biggest individual shareholder in the company and said he plans to remain in that position for the foreseeable future.  ”I bleed Microsoft — have for 34 years and I always will,” he concluded.