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Bill Gates Steps Down as CEO -- What's Next for Microsoft?

by Terrence O'Brien on June 27, 2008 at 04:05 PM


After 30-plus years of running Microsoft, Bill Gates is stepping down from his post as day to day leader of the company in a culmination of a phased withdrawal by Gates of himself. First, Gates handed over chief software architect duties to Ray Ozzie. Craig Mundie took over as chief research and strategy officer. Then, the fiery and often frightening Steve Ballmer was tapped to take over as CEO.

Considering Gates' role as a major business and pop-culture figure, it's understandable that the media, in light of this very public pseudo-exit, is opining about Gates' legacy and Microsoft's future as if the man had died. Let's take a dip into the media and the blogosphere to see what's being said about Gates, his "retirement" and Microsoft:
"'His legacy has to be as one of the shrewdest businessmen and technologist of the 20th century,' said Michael Cusumano, a professor at MIT... he became known as a bare-knuckles businessman and manager, sometimes dismissing a suggestion as 'the stupidest thing I have ever heard.'" [Mail on Sunday]

"It is almost unthinkable that any one human could pick up where Bill Gates leaves off... He is credited by analysts and academics for the emergence of software as a moneymaking industry" [AP]

Some say his wealth and famous opportunism are reminiscent of the robber barons of yore. Yet here is a man who has set a goal to eradicate malaria. Rich as he is - his net worth is an estimated $50 billion - you can't call the man greedy when he has pledged to give back to humanity all but a tiny fraction of 1% of that fortune. [Fortune]

Within popular culture he has also come to symbolize the public perception of what a computer geek should be: bespectacled, skinny -- and very, very successful. [CNN]
Gate's retirement certainly marks a turning point for the company that is struggling to build and monetize its Internet properties and facing increasing competition from the likes of Apple and Google. Whether the company will be re-energized by the management change, or whether it will continue its slow slide into irrelevance, remains to be seen.

Gates, for his part, will be focusing on running the charity he started with his wife, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which works on fighting diseases such as AIDS and malaria in the third world and handing out micro-loans to help people in developing nations build businesses and livelihoods.

What will Gates' legacy be? Will he be remember more for his philanthropic good deeds? Or for the anti-trust lawsuits and charges of anti-competitive business practices? Only time will tell. His impact on the computer industry can not be understated however, without Bill Gates we would still be mired in a world of incompatible computers. For a fascinating run-down of major Bill Gates stories over the past couple of years, be sure to check out Engadget's compendium of Bill Gates stories. [Source: AP]

Tags: bill and melinda gat..., bill gates, BillAndMelindaGat..., BillGates, charity, microsoft, retirement

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