(via Joystiq)
An article at MSNBC has full details. Basically, Mr. Gates is staying with Microsoft, but cutting back his direct involvement. He’ll still have massive stock holdings (roughly 1 billion shares, giving him nearly 10%), and will still be involved somehow (although I’m not quite certain in what manner). He is going to focus now on his charitable foundation instead of keeping Microsoft running.
REDMOND, Wash. – Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates announced Thursday he will transition away from a daily role at the software company he co-founded to focus on the charitable work of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Gates, 50, will continue on as the company’s chairman after transferring his duties over a two-year period.
I’m no fan of Mr. Gates, but I recognize how good a leader he is and how smart he has to be to have kept Microsoft in such a dominant position for so long. I wonder how well his replacements will handle things. Will software quality improve? Will security improve? Will we see new and better/more innnovative things? Or will everything fall apart and Microsoft become just another computer company? I expect most people (that is, we consumers) will see little different. I hope that Microsoft continues doing well in the things they are good at and improves in the areas where they need to be better.
[tags]Microsoft, Bill Gates[/tags]