Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates is stepping down from the company’s board of directors.
In a statement Microsoft said Gates will remain a “technology advisor” to the company and its CEO, Satya Nadella.
“With respect to Microsoft, stepping down from the board in no way means stepping away from the company,” Gates said in a LinkedIn post. “Microsoft will always be an important part of my life’s work and I will continue to be engaged with Satya and the technical leadership to help shape the vision and achieve the company’s ambitious goals.”
Gates is also stepping down as a board member at Warren Buffett’s holding company Berkshire Hathaway.
Gates says he wants to spend more time on his philanthropic work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The foundation’s projects focus on global health, development, education, and, increasingly, climate change.
Gates left his day-to-day duties at Microsoft back in 2008, then served as the company’s chairman of the board until 2014. Nadella then asked Gates to serve the company as a technology advisor.
“The board has benefited from Bill’s leadership and vision,” Nadella said. “And Microsoft will continue to benefit from Bill’s ongoing technical passion and advice, to drive our products and services forward.”
Gates cofounded Microsoft with Paul Allen in 1975. Allen died in 2018.
According to FactSet data, Gates remains one of biggest holders of Microsoft stock, with 1.35% of the total shares.
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