tech industry
06/15/2006, 5:40pm, EDT
Thursday, June 15th
Gates to transition away from Microsoft
Microsoft today announced that chairman and co-founder Bill Gates will transition out of a day-to-day role at the company, effective July 2008, to spend more time working on his charitable foundation, according to CNN Money. Gates is expected to work part-time at Microsoft as chairman and technical adviser and will work full time for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, according to the report. Founded with his wife, the foundation focuses on global health and education. "I've decided that two years from today, I will reorganize my personal priorities," Gates said during a news conference, adding,"I have one of the best jobs in the world. I believe with great wealth comes great responsibility - the responsibility to give back to society," he said. The company's chief technical officer, Ray Ozzie, will immediately assume the title of chief software architect.
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How about ditching Windows?
If he really cared, he'd donate 3/4 of that to charity. He could still live very very comfortably on the leftovers. Probably would still have enough to set his kids up for liffe when he dies.
And if he really wanted to help society, he'd close Microsoft up, recall all their flawed products, and give the money back to the stockholders.
>maybe 10.00 per iPod sold going to education
That's Apple's money. Steve Jobs cannot arbitrarily come up with ege-stroking schemes to give away the stockholders' profits.
What he really ought to do, and probably is doing, is setting up funds that can sustain and keep paying out forever. Including one for himself.
...and, yes, a lot of Bill Gates' charity is self-serving, extremely ego-stroking self-serving, while Steve Jobs has no need for such public masturbation.
I'm sure it would go a lot further if the organizations were less corrupt, too.
He doesn't have to give any.
Read up on his and his wife's accomplishments. They have and will continue to save millions of lives with their programs. You guys should read last year's Newsweek and Time Magazine articles, or read Jeffery Sachs. Gates is making a substantial difference.
Thankfully this little niche board doesn't reach the masses. You guys embarrass me.
-Christopher Johnson (long time Mac User and proponent)
I have always been and most likely will be a mac user, but I have a lot of respect for the man (Gates). He's arguably done more for the developing world than anybody (living or deceased), and he's pretty much a model of responsible and admirable use of wealth. Whatever you think of his company, give credit where it is due.
In any case, this strikes me as such a non-story. He announced his planned retirement in 2008. I figure he wants to get Longhorn out the door before he moves on :)