Steve Ballmer has suggested he held back Microsoft and revealed board tensions helped speed up his departure.
Ballmer is set to retire as Microsoft's CEO, as it's in the middle of efforts to transform into a consumer-friendly "devices and services" company.
"Maybe I'm an emblem of an old era, and I have to move on," Ballmer told the Wall Street Journal.
"As much as I love everything about what I'm doing," he added, "the best way for Microsoft to enter a new era is a new leader who will accelerate change."
Ballmer suggested that his presence may have held back the reorganisation. "No matter how fast I want to change, there will be some hesitation from all constituents — employees, directors, investors, partners, vendors, customers, you name it — to believe I'm serious about it, maybe even myself," he said.
Pressure to go faster
Ballmer also revealed that he faced pressure from Microsoft's board, particularly from its lead independent director, John Thompson.
Though Thompson denies Ballmer was pushed, he admits he told the outgoing CEO to "get on" with the restructure.
"[We] didn't push Steve to step down," said Thompson. "But we were pushing him damn hard to go faster."
Ballmer said he realised during a trip to London that Microsoft might turn around faster with someone fresh at the helm. "At the end of the day, we need to break a pattern," he said. "Face it: I'm a pattern."
According to Ballmer's comments, the board largely welcomed the opportunity to put "fresh eyes" at the top.
He added that he won't sell his current stake in Microsoft and would be open to staying on the board. He said while he was unlikely to take the top role at another company, he was considering offers as diverse as university lecturing to coaching his son's basketball team.
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