Microsoft has long been associated with the name of Bill Gates. Now the founder is leaving the board of directors of the group - to concentrate more on his charity activities.
Redmond (dpa) - Microsoft founder Bill Gates continues to withdraw from the software company. The 64-year-old leaves the board of directors of the Windows giant. Microsoft said Gates wanted more time for its various charities.
However, he will remain chief executive officer Satya Nadella and the rest of the management team as consultants. Gates also served on the board of directors of Warren Buffett's investment company Berkshire Hathaway.
At Microsoft, Gates had already withdrawn from day-to-day business in mid-2008 and resigned in February 2014 when Nadella took office as Chairman of the Board of Directors. His position on the top executive committee of the group, which is subordinate to the executive board, should not initially be filled. The board of directors shrinks to twelve members.
Gates founded Microsoft in 1975 with Paul Allen, who died of cancer in 2018. Together, they shaped the beginnings of the PC industry and made it extremely rich. With a fortune of just under $ 104 billion (around € 93.5 billion), Gates is currently the second richest person in the world after Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, according to estimates by the US magazine "Forbes".
Gates had given up his top job at Microsoft in early 2000. According to the "Wall Street Journal", however, he continued to influence the group and showed up on the company premises a few times a month. Gates uses billions of his assets through a foundation founded together with his wife Melinda to fight diseases, among other things.
Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate of US star investor Warren Buffett, announced on Friday that Kenneth Chenault had been nominated to succeed Gates on the board. Chenault was head of credit card provider American Express until February 2017.
Microsoft message
Gates at "Forbes"
SEC Filing Berkshire Hathaway
