Bill Gates is (Partially) Retiring.
Tuesday July 8, 2008
(photo by Alex Wong / Getty News Images)
After 3 decades of helming the Microsoft Corporation's software direction, Bill Gates is going to hang up his hat. Well, one of his hats, actually: Gates is giving up his role as Chief Software Architect . He will keep his position as the chairman of the MS Board of Directors.
So, what exactly does this "retirement" from software architecting mean for Mr. Gates and Microsoft? Well, this means two big things for Gates: less time working at his Seattle-area Microsoft office, and more time building his and his wife's charitable foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Husband and wife since 1994, Bill and Melinda Gates have put their tremendous personal wealth to humanitarian use. Spending millions of dollars to fight hunger and disease, the Gates are not your typical billionaire couple.
As for Microsoft Corporation: Bill Gates will continue to hold the reins in a hands-off way as he remains chairperson of the MS Board of Directors. Taking over Gates' hands-on duties will be Ray Ozzie and Craig Mundie (Chief Software architect and Chief Research and Strategy Officer, respectively). Steve Ballmer will continue as the CEO of Microsoft.
As for you and me as Microsoft users: the Bill Gates influence will still be prevalent in all the foreseeable MS products. With Gates as the number one shareholder in the company, and Steve Ballmer number two, neither of them have lost any confidence in the Microsoft empire. And candidly, no one will ever see Bill Gates and Microsoft as being two separate things...they have become synonymous household icons.the Bill Gates influence will still be prevalent in all the foreseeable MS products. With Gates as the number one shareholder in the company, and Steve Ballmer number two, neither of them have lost any confidence in the Microsoft empire. And candidly, no one will ever see Bill Gates and Microsoft as being two separate things...they have become synonymous household icons.Being a non-fan of corporate monopolies, I myself am actually buoyed by this news of Gates' partial retirement. It's not every day that you see billionaires restructuring their lives to spend more time on humanitarianism. Congratulations, Mr. Gates... more power to you.
After 3 decades of helming the Microsoft Corporation's software direction, Bill Gates is going to hang up his hat. Well, one of his hats, actually: Gates is giving up his role as Chief Software Architect . He will keep his position as the chairman of the MS Board of Directors.
So, what exactly does this "retirement" from software architecting mean for Mr. Gates and Microsoft? Well, this means two big things for Gates: less time working at his Seattle-area Microsoft office, and more time building his and his wife's charitable foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Husband and wife since 1994, Bill and Melinda Gates have put their tremendous personal wealth to humanitarian use. Spending millions of dollars to fight hunger and disease, the Gates are not your typical billionaire couple.
As for Microsoft Corporation: Bill Gates will continue to hold the reins in a hands-off way as he remains chairperson of the MS Board of Directors. Taking over Gates' hands-on duties will be Ray Ozzie and Craig Mundie (Chief Software architect and Chief Research and Strategy Officer, respectively). Steve Ballmer will continue as the CEO of Microsoft.
As for you and me as Microsoft users: the Bill Gates influence will still be prevalent in all the foreseeable MS products. With Gates as the number one shareholder in the company, and Steve Ballmer number two, neither of them have lost any confidence in the Microsoft empire. And candidly, no one will ever see Bill Gates and Microsoft as being two separate things...they have become synonymous household icons.the Bill Gates influence will still be prevalent in all the foreseeable MS products. With Gates as the number one shareholder in the company, and Steve Ballmer number two, neither of them have lost any confidence in the Microsoft empire. And candidly, no one will ever see Bill Gates and Microsoft as being two separate things...they have become synonymous household icons.Being a non-fan of corporate monopolies, I myself am actually buoyed by this news of Gates' partial retirement. It's not every day that you see billionaires restructuring their lives to spend more time on humanitarianism. Congratulations, Mr. Gates... more power to you.
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