Blogs

Open The FloodGates

By Hillary Profita

June 16, 2006 / 4:26 PM EDT / CBS News

(AP)

The irony is probably not lost on Bill Gates, who announced his semi-retirement from Microsoft by noting that "the world had a tendency to focus a disproportionate amount of attention on me." Indeed, news of Gates's quasi-departure led two evening newscasts and generated front-page headlines everywhere else. Gates tried to manage the media onslaught: As The Washington Post noted, "Gates and [Chief Executive Steve] Ballmer tried to assure investors and employees yesterday that the company would not change much once Gates departs... ."

So why has Gates' departure attracted so much attention? According to The Wall Street Journal's Joseph Schuman, it has less to do with the potential impact it will have on Microsoft and far more to do with Gates's symbolic persona.

No one expects Microsoft to be operating any differently next week than it did yesterday, and it's far from clear just how much Bill Gates's gradual transition to semiretirement by July 2008 will affect the company even then. But yesterday's announcement is news nonetheless, a milestone in the story arc of a mythic figure in this globalized era.

Schuman points to an article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which notes that Gates "plans to remain the company's chairman and a technical adviser on key projects. He also said he expects to continue as Microsoft's largest shareholder." The article also quotes some "veteran observers of the company," who "expect his influence to continue to be felt, particularly on the competitive front, even after he leaves Microsoft in two years."

But, so what? As Anthony Mason on the "Evening News" last night, "The reality is, there is only one Bill Gates" -- and his retirement has a symbolic impact, even if it may not have real world implications. Which is why, as Mason said, "Microsoft waited until after the markets closed today to make the announcement." Not that it mattered: During after-hours trading, the markets reacted, and shares of Microsoft went down by 9 cents.