Microsoft to replace Ballmer by year’s end

Microsoft is looking to replace its outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer by the end of the year.

The company’s board is believed to be homing in on a chosen candidate, and has already held preliminary interviews, Bloomberg reports.

John Donahow, eBay CEO is among the names being considered for the top job at the software giant.

Other candidates in the running include Ford Motors CEO Alan Mulally, former Nokia Oyj CEO Stephen Elop and Microsoft’s business development and evangelism chief Tony Bates.

Ballmer revealed he would be stepping down from Microsoft in August. Having joined Microsoft in the 1980s, he is one of its oldest employees. But his somewhat brash approach to business has not always been welcomed. His harshest critics claim he was “stuck in the past” and missed crucial opportunities, such as the shift to tablet computers, which has left the company fighting to keep up as PC sales decline.

His exit follows a number of titanic shifts at the company in 2013, including a shake up of the entire Xbox division.

Image: Dell