Gates Gives Up Microsoft Helm
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates stepped aside as chief executive officer of the software giant he found and promoted his longtime friend and Microsoft president Steve Ballmer to the post.
Gates said he was taking the action so he could return "to what I love most -- focusing on technologies for the future."
Gates, who has turned over much of the day-to-day operations of Microsoft to Ballmer over the past year-and-a-half, will remain chairman but will also take the title, "chief software architect."
Though Gates has focused more of his efforts on his vision for Microsoft and the computer industry in recent months, Thursday's announcement did not necessarily mean he is giving up any power in the company he co-founded in 1975 with Paul Allen.
Microsoft has made Gates the wealthiest private individual in the world, with a fortune estimated at over $80 billion.
Gates said he planned to dedicate all of his time to fashioning and promoting the "next generation" of Microsoft's flagship product, the Windows 2000 operating system.
He said he especially wants to develop software services that will be hosted on the Internet and made part of future versions of Windows.
Microsoft is working to make its popular software, especially its Office suite of business programs, available over the Internet, in addition to the traditional way of loading it onto individual personal computers.
Gates said he had made "a personal decision, one I have discussed with Steve and our board of directors for some time.
"Steve's promotion will allow me to dedicate myself full time to my passion, building great software and strategizing on the future and nurturing and collaborating with the core team helping Steve run the company."
Ballmer will retain his title of president. He also will be given a seat on Microsoft's board of directors.
"I'm certainly honored and very, very excited about the opportunity," Ballmer said.
Ballmer, 42, was appointed president of Microsoft in July 1998, giving him direct responsibility for improving the performance of all of the company's divisions, as well as customer satisfaction.
He was brought into the company in 1980 by Gates, whom he met when both attended Harvard University in the 1970's. Ballmer was Gates' best man when he married Melinda French in 1994.
Gates, 44, who dropped out of Harvard in his junior year after developing the programming language BASIC for the first microcomputer, co-founded Microsoft in 1975 with Allen. The two focused on developing software for then-rare personal computers, a decision that made them, and later Ballmer, among the richest men in America.
Along with Ballmer's promotion, Gates announced that Microsoft would develop the Next Generation Windows Services, which will power new products and services over the Internet. Microsoft wants to use the Internet to transmit data to any device, including computers, cell phones, handheld computes, home electronics and gear that has not yet been invented.