Bill Gates steps down from Microsoft after 45 years
Microsoft founder and second richest man in the world, Bill Gates has announced he is stepping down from the board to focus on philanthropic endeavours.
After 45 years of being in the Microsoft board, Bill Gates said he wants to focus on global health and development, education, and tackling climate change.
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Gates is also stepping down from his position on the board of holding company Berkshire Hathaway, ‘to dedicate more time to philanthropic priorities including global health and development, education, and my increasing engagement in tackling climate change’ he said in a statement on LinkedIn.
He said,”the most to me, continue to contribute to two companies of which I am incredibly proud, and effectively prioritise my commitment to addressing some of the world’s toughest challenges.’
According to Forbes, Mr Gates is the second richest man in the world behind Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, with a net worth of $103.6 billion (£82bn). He made his fortune through developing software for the personal computer.
As a young man, he dropped out of college and moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he set up Microsoft with his childhood friend, Paul Allen, who died in 2018.
The pair’s big break came in 1980 when Microsoft signed an agreement with IBM to build the operating system that became known as MS-DOS. Microsoft went public in 1986 and within a year Bill Gates become the youngest self-made billionaire at age 31.
