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Bill Gates's Long Goodbye

When the Microsoft chairman decided it was time for a change, he planned and scheduled it with an eye to calming investors' anxiety

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June 16, 2006 at 4:00 AM UTC

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The man who has come to define the PC revolution has decided to walk away—very slowly—from his creation. (see BW Online, 6/16/06, "Gates's Glorious, Qualified Legacy") Microsoft (MSFT) Chairman William H. Gates III said June 15 that he will give up his day-to-day role at the company in two years to focus on giving his vast riches away through the $29 billion Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“Just as Microsoft took off in ways I never expected, so has the work of the Foundation, and it's growing rapidly,” Gates, 50, said in a press conference announcing the news. “With the early successes comes the challenge of scaling up and delivering these new approaches to everyone who can benefit.” Gates says he plans to remain Microsoft'schairman indefinitely.