David Einhorn, the manager in charge of Microsoft shareholder Greenlight Capital hedge fund, has called for Steve Ballmer to step down from his position as CEO of the software giant, claiming that he is responsible for a stand still in stock valuation for the last 10 years.

Speaking at the Ira Sohn Investment Research Conference in New York, Einhorn said that Ballmer should quit and "give someone else a chance". He also stated that, "his continued presence is the biggest overhang on Microsoft's stock."

Even IBM has, this week, overtaken Microsoft in company valuation, and Apple is streaking away as the highest valued technology organisation in the world. In short, Einhorn believes that Microsoft has become stale, and that it has allowed others to capitalise on the Internet and mobile computing markets that the company used to lead.

Greenlight Capital hedge fund currently owns around nine million Microsoft shares, about 0.11 per cent of the company.

Steve Ballmer took over from Bill Gates as CEO in 2000, and has been often criticised since. However, this is the strongest note of no confidence from one of Microsoft's own shareholders.

What do you think, should Steve Ballmer leave the company? Let us know in the comments below...