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Bill Gates to Step Down from Microsoft

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the i'm-sure-you-have-more-to-say-than-i dept.

Geoffreyerffoeg writes "According to Microsoft PressPass, Bill Gates will be leaving his role at Microsoft in July 2008. He'll be staying with the company, but is also moving to a more fulltime position with the Gates Foundation. 'Microsoft Corp. today announced that effective July 2008 Bill Gates, chairman, will transition out of a day-to-day role in the company to spend more time on his global health and education work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The company announced a two-year transition process to ensure that there is a smooth and orderly transfer of Gates' daily responsibilities, and said that after July 2008 Gates would continue to serve as the company's chairman and an adviser on key development projects.' CTO Ray Ozzie will assume Gates' role of Chief Software Architect, and CTO Craig Mundie will also take on more leadership responsibility."

23 of 742 comments (clear)

  1. Holy Sh*t by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Time to sell off my M$ stock...

    1. Re:Holy Sh*t by ad0le · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This will be my final post with slashdot, i'll be moving to digg for my news after today.

      This guy wants to quit his day to day responsibilities to give away his money to the less fortunate and all you guys want to do is bash him. Hey, I like Linux, I own a Mac and have tons of Windows experience, but just because you don't like his business practices or his OS dosn't give you the right to belittle him. Will you manage to give away 80% of your fortune before you die? Didn't think so fucktard!

      Give the guy a break, he's one of the few modern day humanitarians!

      --
      My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch.
    2. Re:Holy Sh*t by script_daddy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You must be new here, etc. etc.

      Thing is, the Slashdot-crowd is becoming increasingly singleminded when it comes to issues such as Copyright Infringment, Micro$oft (never forget the dollar sign, or you'll never blend in!) and the Bush Administration. I blame the moderation system. Pimping Linux and Booing Bill, if done with some degree of artfulness, is a surefire way to get modded up. Why take the contrarian position if your point of view is going to be modded "Troll" or "Flamebait" in a matter of nanoseconds?

      For what it's worth, I agree with you. Microsoft's business practices can be questioned (though they're not much worse than other companies in similar situations), but the humanitarian efforts of Bill Gates should not be underestimated or scoffed at. Sure, he's still filthy rich despite how much he has given, but if he was as evil as many slashdotters would like to have it, why wouldn't he keep it all? Or spend the money to build an evil headquarter in an inactive volcano?

      --
      One of a Kind <-- You probably won't be interested..
    3. Re:Holy Sh*t by CastrTroy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What's funny is you just posted a comment about how messed up the moderation system is, and yet you get modded up to +5 for pointing out the flaws, and supporting Bill Gates. Guess it's not as messed up as you thought it was.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
  2. He's not leaving by Shippy · · Score: 5, Informative
    He's going to stay chairman. This is a transition of his Chief Software Architect role. From the first line in the article:
    Working full time at Microsoft through June 2008, Gates then will continue as chairman and advisor while increasing Foundation efforts; Ray Ozzie and Craig Mundie to assume expanded roles.
    --
    -Shippy
    1. Re:He's not leaving by mjmalone · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Being the chairman of the board is very different from being an employee for a company. The chairman of the board is _not_ an employee, he is an owner and is supposed to represent the interests of the owners. Owners != Employees. Basically, sounds like Bill is stepping down from his day-to-day activities managing the organization. But he still has billions of dollars tied up in an ownership position -- it would be incredibly stupid of him not to protect that investment.

      --
      Visualize the world of wine
    2. Re:He's not leaving by Jugalator · · Score: 5, Funny
      What will we do when he dies? We will still make fun of him!

      Yeah, nothing like some black humor from geeks disconnected from reality!

      I picture some zealots crushing his tomb stone and leaving a note with the words
      "... and so, at last, Mammon fell, and this final puny sign of his evil rule was shattered!" -- From the Book of Mozilla, 8:12
      --
      Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
    3. Re:He's not leaving by mfg · · Score: 5, Funny

      Bill Gates' tombstone will read

          This man has performed an illegal operation and has been shut down

  3. You happy Slashdot??! by Average_Joe_Sixpack · · Score: 5, Funny

    That borg icon finally got to him ... should be ashamed of yourselves!

  4. Thank you by murat · · Score: 5, Funny

    Thank you Bill, for everything you've done for the industry and the world.

    1. Re:Thank you by LewsTherinKinslayer · · Score: 5, Funny

      Thank you Bill, for everything you've done for the industry and the world.

      Signed, Steve Jobs

      -- PS: I'll fucking kill you.

  5. Cleaning up his act? by nstlgc · · Score: 5, Funny

    I bet he just wants to make sure he makes it into heaven after all...

    --
    I'm Rocco. I'm the +5 Funny man.
  6. Captain to leave the ship? by Nesetril · · Score: 5, Funny

    July 2008 - is that before or after Vista ships?

    --
    Jesus said to his disciples: "If you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one" - Luke 22:36
  7. who knew by User+956 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "I believe with great wealth comes great responsibility"

    Who would have guessed that Bill Gates was also Spider-man?

    --
    The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
  8. Re:Uhhhh... by Jon+Peterson · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let's see:

    Gates - creates world's most successful company, becomes world's richest man, leaves day job to spend billions on charity.
    Us - Made lame borg jokes for 5 years, finally released a browser that's better than IE if you ignore all the unfixed copy/paste bugs. Convinced a few people that Unix sucked less than Windows.

    Dude, I think *he* won.

    --
    ----- .sig: file not found
  9. Thanks Bill by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I would just like to say thanks to Bill for his continuing work with the Gates foundation. I don't see the other multibillionares (Google guys, Redhat guys, Ellison, Jobs, etc) stepping up to the plate and making any commitment EVEN CLOSE to the level he has. All I see those guys doing is buying fighter planes, boats, sports teams and big houses. Good luck Bill!

  10. Re:Oh shit by linvir · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just a picture of a chair. It'd be beatifully subtle, but sufficiently childish.

  11. Chairman... by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 5, Funny

    He's going to stay chairman.

    He's replacing Ballmer!?!? O.o

    1. Re:Chairman... by Slithe · · Score: 5, Funny

      Here is a simple diagram:

          o -- Joke

          o -- You
          -|-
          / \

      --
      ---- "XML is like violence. If it doesn't fix the problem, you aren't using enough."
  12. Ambition... by Rice-Pudding · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Gates is still ambitious.

    Bill Gates has achieved what most people only dream of in terms of their life's ambitions. What do most people want? Money? Sure, but that is not the end of everything. Most (normal) people actually want to make a contribution to society/the world; to leave a legacy, if you will. (Granted, Bill has already done that.)

    So when you have succeeded beyond your wildest ambitions, then what? Gates cannot actually spend his money on himself fast enough. There comes a point when you start to want to spend it on your legacy instead. Hence, the charity funding. But this is still ambition.

    (Of course, I wish more people would reach that stage.)

  13. Government's Response by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 5, Funny

    At which point Dick Cheney said "Go fuck yourself!",
    and shot Ballmer in the face.

    Ha! Didn't see that plot twist coming did you?
    Man, this stuff writes itself.

  14. Gates = modern day Robin Hood by I'm+Don+Giovanni · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Those of you calling Gates "evil", "villainous", etc, in order to belittle his philanthropic activities, consider this:
    The companies that Gates "crushed" were rich companies whose execs had become rich themselves.
    So Gates took from those rich fat cats (through unethical means, according to the Gates haters), and is now giving to the poor. That makes him a high-tech Robin Hood. And just like the government tried to bring down Robin Hood, they tried to bring down Gates. What say you to that? ;-)

    --
    -- "I never gave these stories much credence." - HAL 9000
  15. Re:Speaking of monopolies... by Barlo_Mung_42 · · Score: 5, Insightful


    He gave to charity long before the trial. Stock does have a real value. So giving away lots of stock = giving away lots of money.
    He's already given away over 60% of his net worth which is way more than any regular joe I know.
    His foundation is his AND his wifes. Yes she has a lot to do with it but where does the money come from. Hint...NOT FROM HER!
    Their foundation (I just learned this today form NPR) is funding 90% of the world effort to get rid of polio. That's one effort of many but if they succeed at just that one it will be huge.
    It matters not what you think of MS and how he got his money. He's doing a lot of good things with it. His wife doesn't get all the credit either. His father also had a lot to do with it growing up.