Bill Gates is retiring, sort of. He is still only 52, and he is going off to spend more time guiding the world’s richest philanthropy, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He will still be Microsoft’s chairman and largest shareholder, but Friday is his last day as a full-time worker at the software giant, marking the unofficial end of his career as a business leader.
It has been a transition two years in the making. But it still comes with the jarring shock that accompanies the end of an era. Bill Gates, the geek god synonymous with Microsoft, is now officially retired from the company he created.
Despite his success, Gates is moving on as the company he co-founded in 1975 is struggling to find its way. The center of gravity in technology has shifted from PCs to Net, altering the old rules of competition that were so lucratively mastered by Microsoft.Gates legacy is impressive. In addition to software itself, Gates and his company have shaped how people think about competition in many industries where technology plays a central role. Today, there are more than one billion copies of Windows operating system on PCs around the world.It’s a prospect he relishes. ‘‘This whole thing about which operating system somebody uses is a pretty silly thing versus issues involving starvation or death,’’ he told Newsweek. ‘‘In no sense would I say, ‘I’m making a sacrifice because it’s something my mother told me I ought to do’. I am doing something my mother told me I ought to do, but it’s going to be a lot of fun. And I feel good about the impact.’’ The chances are, many others will soon be feeling good about it too.
No comments:
Post a Comment