Bill Gates leaving daily role at Microsoft

CNBC breaking news

[HAL9000]

CNBC announcing - After July 2008, Bill Gates shall leave his daily role at Microsoft, but will remain as company chairman.

[Spktyr]

This could be bad - he may be deciding to go into politics...

[HAL9000]

Correction - July 2008 is the date of the change.

[rb22982]

That's a scary thought

[Bommer]

This could be bad - he may be deciding to go into politics...

If his campaign is anything like his OS, it'll be corrupt easily hacked and unable to run long without crashing!

[edpc]

Worse....he thinks he can save the world by throwing his money at problems.

[stephenjohnbanker]

Note to self..............short Microsoft : )

[SSR1]

I wonder what he will do with his time?
Much as I dislike Windows, he is doing some good work with
his money.

[stephenjohnbanker]

Like he and his wife throwing money at a Mecha-La Raza magnet school.

[Williams]

You should have written that note to self long ago. MSFT stock has been a pathetic performer, with a lousy dividend. Gates leaving may help.

[edpc]

He's going to devote his efforts to the Gates Foundation. I can't wait to see how these third world rat holes bilk him out of money. How long until we see a "oil for food" type ripoff?

[TChris]

Worse....he thinks he can save the world by throwing his money at problems.

Good heavens! That cinches it! He's running for congress. Then, he can throw our money at problems instead!

[old-ager]

Ray Ozzie becoming chief software architect immediately.

[taildragger]

Probably just in time for the DNC Convention....

After seeing a friend who is an expert Demo his Mac, I wanted to put my XP laptop on a skeet shooter and yell "Pull".

[ShadowAce]

[old-ager]

Now I feel *really* old.

[TheWasteLand]

Ugh. Gates in politics...*shudder*

[Adam-ondi-Ahman]

I'm at Microsoft, watching Bill giving his speach live on an internal webcast. He's going to work full time for the Gates Foundation. His replacement as Chief Software Architect will start immediately, but he will work with him over the next 2 years.

[stephenjohnbanker]

I should have done it 5 or so years ago, when it was over 100 : )

[edpc]

Looks like he's pulling a Rockefeller/Carnegie/Mellon philanthropy trip. Computer giant...philanthropist....you're still a geek, Bill.

[GI-Frog]

Good if you got in early, but pity to those who got in this within the last 5 years.

[Jake The Goose]

Politics? Stock price? - what a shallow group today.

How about a little respect paid to a man who literally has helped change the world.

That's right - changed the world.

This man has been worth billions for years now - and yet he still works 18 hour days, 365 days a week, gives away hundreds of millions of dollars.

Who cares what his politics are - this man has been a credit to the USA, free market minded people, and needy people.

God bless you Bill Gates - and good luck to you.

[discostu]

I'm all for someone in government that wants to throw their own money at problems. Unfortunately like so many MS projects it would probably suffer from scope creep.

[Williams]

Right, they've got a ton of cash, I believe. Everyone waits for them to share some with the shareholders. MSFT is the company people love to hate.

[GI-Frog]

Gates Foundation.

You mean, the Dodge Income Taxes Foundation?

[TChris]

...365 days a week...

I agree that Bill deserves a great deal of respect, but even he can't get more than seven days into a week. ;-)

[HAL9000]

Ballmer looks scared.

[Old Professer]

He's said he's going to dedicate his life to global health and eductation; I feel safer and better already, after all, the only reason it hasn't worked before is because all the wrong people tried it and were under-capitalized.

Goodbye, Ambien, hello Viagra!

[Cyclopean Squid]

Go enjoy your billions, Bill.

[old-ager]

MS has not needed money from investors. May as well be privately owned. Paying too much attention to stock value causes companies to do very bad things.

[theDentist]

I thought he'd already done that.

[HAL9000]

How about a little respect paid to a man who literally has helped change the world.

Thanks for all the bugs, worms, viruses and spyware, Bill. You've changed the world - for the worse.

[atomicpossum]

I agree that Bill deserves a great deal of respect, but even he can't get more than seven days into a week. ;-)

It's calculated on a Pentium.

[cmsgop]

He sure does,LOL! His head is Glowing!

[Echo Talon]

I think its a good idea, the people under him(that probably know more) will be in charge.

[Jake The Goose]

Ever had to replace a light bulb - I bet you don't slam Edison every time you do....

[Echo Talon]

He's going to devote his efforts to the Gates Foundation.

Code word, he is going to retire...

[Lunatic Fringe]

Another way of saying "I'm retiring"

[edpc]

How about a little respect paid to a man who literally has helped change the world.

It's not like he invented the PC or the Net. MS is to computers like VHS was to video. It existed at the same time as a superior product. Price and marketing gave us an inferior product. PC proliferation would have happened anyway....just with a different supplier. You'll pardon me if I am not impressed.

[jbwbubba]

"This could be bad - he may be deciding to go into politics"

He could pay everyone $50,000 per vote, be elected president of the US and still have billions to play with.

[vox_freedom]

Ballmer looks scared.

I'm quite surprised Ballmer didn't leave ahead of Gates.

[Cementjungle]

Worse....he thinks he can save the world by throwing his money at problems.

In all fairness, he has done and continues to do a lot of good with his money, and in smart ways.

I have been working with a charity group based in Senegal for years (http://tostan.org) and am friends with the director. She has always had very favorable things to say about Bill and Melinda, who have helped support this cause.

[Cementjungle]

Code word, he is going to retire...

If I was worth close to $100 billion I sure as heck wouldn't be working either!

[HAL9000]

Microsoft press release - Microsoft Announces Plans for July 2008 Transition for Bill Gates

[Echo Talon]

I would have retired a LONG time ago!

[Williams]

I'm certainly more than impressed by what Gates accomplished. I also know that people who know a bit about computers and software tend to hate his products and say the Microsoft codes are badly written and full of junk from earlier versions that weight them down.

However, I also gave up on more expensive Macs and I am generally happy running computers on Windows XP.

[vox_freedom]

This could be bad - he may be deciding to go into politics...

Ain't no way Bill the IIIrd is getting into politics. He has no stomach for it, doesn't need it to promote influence (his $$$ can do that), and he has no personality for the rough and tumble political world.
Look for him and his wife to get more involved in the Foundation's children health intitiatives and putting support into other health issues (cancer cures, AIDS for examples).

[antiRepublicrat]

How long until we see a "oil for food" type ripoff?

How does the equation go?

• If you spend your money on you, you get the best value for the best quality.
• If you spend your money on someone else, you get the best value, and quality suffers.
• If you spend someone else's money on you, get the best quality, regardless of value.
• If you spend someone else's money on someone else, you don't worry about value or quality.

Gates will be spending his own money on others, so he has an incentive to make sure it doesn't get wasted, unlike the UN, which had no incentive for anything except itself.

[edpc]

In all fairness.....few project directors say bad things about their benefactors.

[reagan_fanatic]

This could be bad - he may be deciding to go into politics...

If he locks up during a campaign speech, do you just re-boot him?