The Vacancy Fit for a King

Perhaps no one knows precisely why Bill Gates chose June 15 to announce to the world that he would give up his day-to-day involvement at Microsoft (MSFT) over the next two years (see BusinessWeek.com, 6/16/06, "Bill Gates's Long Goodbye"). Or at least no one other than Gates and his wife Melinda. Yet Paul Saffo, director at the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, Calif., can almost visualize the moment. "I think he looked in the mirror one day and said, 'You're fired,'" says Saffo.

Hotly debated over the past few years is whether Microsoft is a mature company, with few growth prospects left. What's indisputable is that the software giant is on the decline in terms of power, if not profits, as numerous upstarts, led by Google (GOOG), have proven themselves more nimble and innovative in taking advantage of the Internet. And over the past six difficult years, it's been Gates who has had the role of technical architect for the company's many products. So Gates' decision to leave Microsoft does more than vacate his posts at the software company. It also serves as public notice that the position at the center of the tech industry that Gates and Microsoft have occupied for decades is up for grabs.