Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said Tuesday that “key decisions” following the company’s withdrawal of a $47.5 billion bid for Yahoo will be made by CEO Steve Ballmer.

Gates was asked about the software giant’s plans after the Yahoo bid fell apart, including whether Microsoft would pursue another deal of the same size elsewhere.

“Well, the key decisions on that will be made by Microsoft CEO Steven Ballmer, who took a look at Yahoo and decided that on our own he likes the stuff that we’re doing,” Gates said, according to a pool report.

“We need to show the innovation and it’s a very competitive space,” he added. “I wouldn’t rule out some partnerships but we don’t have anything imminent there.”

Last-ditch talks between Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. failed over the weekend, leading Microsoft to walk away from a deal Saturday.

“I think he (Ballmer) pointed to a meeting we’re having in July which we call our investors’ meeting, where we’ll really go through and explain why the work by Microsoft research makes us feel that in that online area where we’re going to do some breakthrough work,” Gates said.

Gates made the remarks after a meeting and dinner with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

The Microsoft co-founder was on a brief trip to South Korea, which he said was his first since 2001.