Skip to main content

Bill Gates surrendering Microsoft helm

SAN FRANCISCO - A Harvard University dropout who ushered in the home computer age and made billions of dollars along the way will have his last official day of work at Microsoft on June 27.
Three people will essentially fill the void left behind when Bill Gates retires from the company he and friend Paul Allen co-founded in 1975.
Since Gate's began his transition from leading Microsoft to heading his personally-bankrolled charity, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, his job as chief software architect has been handled by Ray Ozzie.
Craig Mundie inherited Gate's chief research and strategy officer duties, while former Harvard classmate Steve Ballmer became chief executive officer at the Seattle-based software colossus.
Gates left Harvard after two years to found the firm that became global powerhouse Microsoft. He later received honorary degrees from Harvard and other universities.
After retiring, Gates will remain chairman of the Microsoft board of directors and its largest shareholder.
"I don't think anything is going to drastically change the day he leaves," said Matt Rosoff of the private analyst firm Directions On Microsoft.
"If he thinks something is important and tells Steve Ballmer, Ballmer will listen to him."
Still, Gates's bespectacled nerdish visage is an integral part of Microsoft's image and his departure is symbolic, according to analysts.
"The challenge Microsoft has when the founder departs is remembering its heart," said analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group in Silicon Valley.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Why Disasters Are Getting Worse?

By: AMANDA RIPLEY Thu Sep 4, 12:40 PM ET In the space of two weeks, Hurricane Gustav has caused an estimated $3 billion in losses in the U.S. and killed about 110 people in the U.S. and the Caribbean, catastrophic floods in northern India have left a million people homeless, and a 6.2-magnitude earthquake has rocked China's southwest, smashing over 400,000 homes. If it seems like disasters are getting more common, it's because they are. But some disasters do seem to be affecting us worse - and not for the reasons you may think. Floods and storms have led to most of the excess damage. The number of flood and storm disasters has gone up by 7.4% every year in recent decades, according to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. (Between 2000 and 2007, the growth was even faster - with an average annual rate of increase of 8.4%.) Of the total 197 million people affected by disasters in 2007, 164 million were affected by floods. It is tempting to look at the line-u...

Best scents to help you relax and stay alert

By: Allie Firestone, 10/15/08 3:03 PM Fall is chock-full of scents, and that’s one of the reasons I love it. Picking up on the huge variety of smells—whether it’s pumpkin pie, freshly-baked cookies, or spiced apple cider—is something I recently realized that I take for granted. Scientists say that humans can distinguish over 10,000 different odor molecules. Turns out, while it doesn’t require any conscious thought, our ability to pick up on a scent involves a sensitive and complex function that has powerful effects on our memory and behavior. How else can I explain how one whiff of pumpkin immediately conjures up thoughts of trick-or-treating and holiday gatherings? Scientists dedicated to tracking the complex relationship between smells, our behavior, and our moods have found that certain scents trigger feelings, including those that help us relax and fall asleep and those that perk us up and keep us alert and focused. Sleep and Relaxation Looks like I’m not the only one tossing and t...

Banks Boost Customer Fees to Record Highs

by Jane J. Kim Thursday, November 13, 2008provided by: theworldstreetjournal.com Bounced Checks, Overdrafts and ATM Use All Cost More; Penalizing Repeat Offenders Banks are responding to the troubled economy by jacking up fees on their checking accounts to record amounts. Last week, Citigroup Inc.'s Citibank started charging some customers a new $10 "overdraft protection transfer fee" to transfer money from a savings account or line of credit to cover a checking-account shortfall. Citibank had already raised foreign-exchange transaction fees on its debit cards and added minimum opening deposit requirements for its checking accounts. Over the past year, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s Chase, Bank of America Corp., and Wells Fargo & Co. have boosted the fees they charge noncustomers who use their automated teller machines to as much as $3 per transaction. With all these changes, the average costs of checking-account fees, including ATM surcharges, bounced-check fees a...