Bill Gates is transitioning out of his full-time role at Microsoft, the software giant that's been under pressure due to a sagging stock price, competition from Google and nagging delays in the Vista operating system. In a press conference held Thursday after the stock markets had closed for regular trading, Gates announced that over the next two years he will gradually step away from his daily responsibilities at the company he co-founded some 30 years ago.
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Member since:2006-01-06
Contrast Gates with Donald Trump -- and the differences are stark. Trump is completely ego-driven-on-steroids. He wants people to recognize him for his wealth, and you usually see him stepping onto or off of a helicopter, lounging in one of his mansions with his supermodel wife, or walking around town with his goon squad entourage with comb-over aflutter. Meanwhile, you hear practically nothing about Gates's personal life (he's understandably private), and he doesn't trumpet the many good works of the Gates Foundation; although it touches many lives in many nations.
Member since:2005-07-06
"On a side note, some are saying he's leaving MS: not true. He'll still be chairman, he just won't be Software Architect and will have very few duties."
This is what I think most people are missing as well. I'm sure he'll still be very active in the business end of Microsoft, probably until he croaks...he built up a 100 billion dollar empire pretty much single-handedly (in the beginning at least), there's no walking away from that. Ever.
Member since:
2005-07-08
I'd rather have seen Steve Ballmer leave Microsoft but alas...
Bill Gates unlike 99% of all rich people is quiet about his wealth. He poors vast sums of it into things he truely does care about. We may despise what he's done with the market and with his software but that doesn't change the fact that's honestly trying to make a difference in the world with his wealth.
For anyone to sit there and mock him for wanting to further these goals is just plain stupid. He's trying to make a difference unlike most other rich people that just climb up on their soap boxes periodically and preach fire and brimstone to the corrupt masses just to make themselves feel a a bit better.
I may disagree with the way he's made his billions and the way he's manipulated the market to do so, but he's one of the few that have given this much money and this percentage of his money to some really great causes. Now he's moving on to do that even further. Good on him for doing so.
On a side note, some are saying he's leaving MS: not true. He'll still be chairman, he just won't be Software Architect and will have very few duties.