Bill Gates is stepping down from the board of Microsoft, the software giant he co-founded more than four decades ago, to dedicate more time to philanthropy.
Mr. Gates said in a LinkedIn post on Friday that he would also step down from the board of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate run by Billionaire Warren Buffett.
“I have made the decision to step down from both of the public boards on which I serve — Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway — to dedicate more time to philanthropic priorities including global health and development, education, and my increasing engagement in tackling climate change,” Bill Gates wrote in the post.
In a press release Friday, Microsoft announced that its 64-year-old co-founder was leaving its board, but will continue serving as technology adviser to the CEO Satya Nadella and other Microsoft leaders.
"It's been a tremendous honor and privilege to have worked with and learned from Bill over the years," the Mirosoft CEO Satya Nadella said in the written statement. "Microsoft will continue to benefit from Bill's ongoing technical passion and advice to drive our products and services forward. I am grateful for Bill's friendship and look forward to continuing to work alongside him to realize our mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more."
Bill Gates has slowly been stepping back from Microsoft in past years. He left his day-to-day role at the company in 2008 and served as the board’s chairman until 2014.
Mr. Gates remains one of the largest individual shareholders of Microsoft Corporation. As of December, he held nearly 1.3% of the company’s shares worth about $16 billion.
With an estimated net worth of over $100 billion, Gates is the second wealthiest person in the world after Amazon's Jeff Bezos, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. He has been working on global health, industrial development and education initiatives through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation since 2008.
