Steve Ballmer has been crowned Microsoft’s new king, while Bill Gates may be aiming even higher. Gates announced yesterday he is giving up day-to-day leadership of the company he co-founded in 1975 to return “to what I love most, focusing on technologies for the future.” Ballmer was named chief executive of the software giant, formalizing more than a year and a half of change at the software company in both management and vision. He inherited the job from Gates, who will remain Microsoft’s chair and become a full-time “software architect.” Microsoft has made Gates the world’s wealthiest person, with a fortune estimated at more than $80 billion.