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"Steve Ballmer took one more opportunity to publicly reflect on his tenure as chief executive officer at Microsoft and the company's path forward in his final letter to shareholders.\nIn the annual letter, released mid-afternoon Monday, Ballmer updated shareholders on Microsoft's transition to being a devices and services company (\"We are still in the early days\"), explained the motivations behind its major staff reorganization and hyped upcoming products.\nSee also: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Bids Tearful Farewell\n\"As I think about what\u2019s ahead, I\u2019m incredibly optimistic about what Microsoft will deliver,\" Ballmer wrote in the letter. \"We are accelerating as we bring to market Windows 8.1 PCs and tablets with our partners, Surface 2, Xbox One and new phones; advance our enterprise services including Windows Server, Windows Azure, Microsoft Dynamics and Office 365; and innovate on new high-value activities.\"\nBallmer then went on to tout the company's financial performance during his long tenure as CEO.\n\"We have seen incredible results in the past decade \u2014 delivering more than $200 billion in operating profit,\" he wrote. \"I\u2019m optimistic not only as the CEO but as an investor who treasures his Microsoft stock.\"\nBallmer concluded the letter on an emotional note, similar to another recent appearance at a company-wide gathering: \"Working at Microsoft has been a thrilling experience \u2014 we\u2019ve changed the world and delivered record-setting success \u2014 and I know our best days are still ahead.\"\nMicrosoft announced in late August that Ballmer would retire within a year, as soon as the company had settled on a replacement CEO. The Redmond, Wash. company is reportedly considering several possible successors, including Alan Mulally, the current CEO of Ford, and Stephen Elop, CEO of Nokia, which Microsoft recently acquired. \nImage: Kevork Djansezian/Getty"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2013/10/07/steve-ballmer-shareholder-letter/>