Bill Gates steps down as Chief Software Architect
As has been reported by numerous news agencies and blogs, Bill Gates is relinquishing his position as Chief Software Architect of Microsoft Corp and taking on a part time role within the company. The reason for his departure is so that he can spend more time on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Ray Ozzie will move into Gate’s previous role as CSA while Steve “Where’s my chair?” Ballmer will now be the man at the top of the hierarchy.
Bill Gates has been the subject of ridicule, discussion, admiration even among the IT professional populace for as long as I can remember. The reports on the questionable practices that have been at the heart of the Justice Department’s investigations into MS has portrayed Gates as a unscruplous businessman who will stop at nothing to eliminate competition. This is a direct result of Bill Gates being synonymous with Microsoft. As the co-founder and public face of the mega-corporation, he’s simply the man people love to hate.
It’s all too easy to forget that the Gates Foundation has done a tremendous amount of philantrophic work and helped numerous people. Joel Spolsky has an excellent post on his experience with working for Bill. Gates is the rare type who possesses both technical insight and management acumen which would probably account for Microsoft’s exponential growth in the late 80s and 90s. With Google on the scene, will Ballmer be even able to maintain the company’s edge, let alone inspire innovation?