| Gates leaving day-to-day
responsibilities at Microsoft
15 June, 2006
By Mark Cox
Late Thursday, Microsoft announced that effective July 2008
Bill Gates, chairman, will transition out of a day-to-day
role in the company to spend more time on his global health
and education work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The company announced a two-year transition process to ensure
that there is a smooth and orderly transfer of Gates' daily
responsibilities. Gates will remain as the company's chairman,
as well as an advisor on key development projects.
The company announced that Chief Technical Officer Ray Ozzie
will immediately assume the title of chief software architect
and begin working side by side with Gates on all technical
architecture and product oversight responsibilities, to ensure
a smooth transition. Similarly, Chief Technical Officer Craig
Mundie will immediately take the new title of chief research
and strategy officer and will work closely with Gates to assume
his responsibility for the company's research and incubation
efforts; Mundie also will partner with general counsel Brad
Smith to guide Microsoft's intellectual property and technology
policy efforts.
"Our business and technical leadership has never been
stronger, and Microsoft is well-positioned for success in
the years ahead. I feel very fortunate to have such great
technical leaders like Ray and Craig at the company,"
Gates said. "I remain fully committed and full time at
Microsoft through June 2008 and will be working side by side
with Ray and Craig to ensure that a smooth transition occurs."
"This was a hard decision for me," Gates added.
"I'm very lucky to have two passions that I feel are
so important and so challenging. As I prepare for this change,
I firmly believe the road ahead for Microsoft is as bright
as ever."
In September 2005 Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve
Ballmer organized the company into three divisions under presidents
Jim Allchin, Kevin Johnson, Robbie Bach and Jeff Raikes, who
were given much greater responsibility for product development
and strategy decisions within their respective businesses.
In August 2005 the company appointed Kevin Turner as chief
operating officer.
Ballmer and Gates noted that Microsoft has been steadily
expanding its senior leadership in recent years, and that
today's announcement continues a transition process that has
been underway for several years. In January 2000, Gates assumed
the role of chief software architect and Ballmer assumed the
role of CEO, responsible for all day-to-day operations and
company business strategy.
Ozzie, 50, worked on the first electronic spreadsheet, VisiCalc,
in the early 1980s, then joined Lotus Development Corp. in
1983 to develop Lotus Symphony, an MS-DOS-based integrated
software management product that combined word processing,
spreadsheet, business graphics, data management and communications
capabilities. In 1984, Ozzie formed Iris Associates Inc. to
develop Lotus Notes. In 1997 Ozzie founded Groove Networks,
where he developed Groove Virtual Office. Microsoft acquired
Groove Networks in April 2005 and named Ozzie chief technical
officer.
Mundie, 56, joined Microsoft in 1992 to create and run the
Consumer Platforms Division, which was responsible for developing
non-PC platform and service offerings including the Microsoft
Windows CE operating system; software for handheld PCs, Pocket
PCs and Auto PCs; and early telephony products. Mundie also
started Microsoft's digital TV efforts and acquired and managed
the WebTV Networks Inc. subsidiary. Mundie is also the original
champion of the Trustworthy Computing Initiative at Microsoft,
which has influenced Microsoft's software development strategy.
His current responsibilities also include global technology
policy and a variety of technical and business incubation
activities.
Ozzie and Mundie will continue to report to Gates. At an
appropriate time during the two-year transition period, they
will shift to reporting to Ballmer.
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