Gates announced his decision in a LinkedIn post, saying he wants to “dedicate more time to philanthropic priorities including global health and development, education, and my increasing engagement in tackling climate change.” This would likely include work with the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, which Gates and his wife founded in 2000. Read: Microsoft shifts Build conference online amid coronavirus spread Gates further stated that he was by no means abandoning Microsoft, and implied he’ll be staying there in a sort of consigliere role for its current executives: “Microsoft will always be an important part of my life’s work and I will continue to be engaged with Satya [Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO] and the technical leadership to help shape the vision and achieve the company’s ambitious goals.” Nadella said in a Microsoft press statement: With regards to his position on the board of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, Gates said, “Serving on the Berkshire board has been one of the greatest honors of my career. Warren and I were the best of friends long before I joined and will be long after.” Gates, who is 64, was the Chairman of Microsoft’s board of directors until 2014.
