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BILLION DOLLAR BALLMER: Microsoft chief makes $1bn simply by quitting

Hmm, what could I do to boost the value of my stock portfolio?

Steve Ballmer has just seen his personal wealth surge by a cool $1bn after announcing his retirement from Microsoft - which immediately caused the company's stock to soar close to a 12-month high on Wall Street.

The software vendor, which trades on Nasdaq under the MSFT banner, saw its shares initially surge by close to 9 per cent following Ballmer's surprise decision to quit his CEO role after 13 years at the helm of Microsoft.

They have now settled around the $34.50 mark - up nearly 7 per cent and close to the multinational's 52-week high share price of $36.43.

All of which means Ballmer has gained better than $750,000,000 following his announcement that he will serve out over the next 12 months while Microsoft looks for a successor.

He owns 333.252 million shares in Microsoft. Quitting means he's winning big time, which must make it "the right time" for one of Redmond's "largest owners".

As of March 2013, Forbes said that Ballmer was worth more than $15bn - slapping the billionaire right in the middle of its top 100 list of stupidly rich people. ®

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