Bill Gates steps down from Microsoft board to focus on philanthropy

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Bill Gates steps down from Microsoft board

The company's 64-year-old co-founder will spend more time on philanthropic activities.
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Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is stepping down from the company's board to spend more time on philanthropic activities.

He says he wants to focus on global health and development, education and tackling climate change.

One of the world's richest men, Mr Gates, 65, has also left the board of Warren Buffett's massive holding company, Berkshire Hathaway.

Mr Gates stepped down from his day-to-day role running Microsoft in 2008.

Announcing his latest move, Mr Gates said the company would "always be an important part of my life's work" and he would continue to be engaged with its leadership.

But he said: "I am looking forward to this next phase as an opportunity to maintain the friendships and partnerships that have meant the most to me, continue to contribute to two companies of which I am incredibly proud, and effectively prioritise my commitment to addressing some of the world's toughest challenges."

Mr Gates is listed by Forbes as the world's second richest man after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and is worth $103.6bn (£84.4bn).

He made his fortune developing software for the personal computer.

More on Bill Gates:
As a young man, he dropped out of college and moved to Albuquerque, in New Mexico, where he set up Microsoft with his childhood friend, Paul Allen, who died in 2018.

Their big break came in 1980 when Microsoft signed an agreement with IBM to build the operating system that became known as MS-DOS.

Microsoft went public in 1986 and within a year Bill Gates, at 31, had become the youngest self-made billionaire.

Mr Gates has served on Berkshire's board since 2004 but devotes much of his time to the charitable organisation he set up with his wife, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The couple were named the most generous philanthropists in the US in 2018 by the The Chronicle of Philanthropy, after giving $4.8bn to their foundation the previous year.
 
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Probably off topic, but I'm always skeptical about charitable foundations. Like the overpaid people running those breast cancer "charity" foundations, they will all lose their jobs and cushy salaries if they actually did their job and eliminated poverty, etc. Also, I'd the misfortune to be involved in some charities in my youth (some of the guys on the ground are hot, so don't judge), and they were grossly mismanaged, burning through funds through inefficiency and creative bookkeeping, and the people running the show were drama queens who spent all their time infighting and engaging in petty feuds.

So yeah, Bill and Melinda - whatever. They won't be changing MY life or getting a cent from me.
 
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BlankSpaceBaby said:
Probably off topic, but I'm always skeptical about charitable foundations. Like the overpaid people running those breast cancer "charity" foundations, they will all lose their jobs and cushy salaries if they actually did their job and eliminated poverty, etc. Also, I'd the misfortune to be involved in some charities in my youth (some of the guys on the ground are hot, so don't judge), and they were grossly mismanaged, burning through funds through inefficiency and creative bookkeeping, and the people running the show were drama queens who spent all their time infighting and engaging in petty feuds.

So yeah, Bill and Melinda - whatever. They won't be changing MY life or getting a cent from me.
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Bill mostly spends his own money tho. There isn't really any way to make money from being the one donating
 
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WinchesterPremium said:
Bill mostly spends his own money tho. There isn't really any way to make money from being the one donating
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That's one way to completely miss the point of my post. (Hint: it has nothing to do with Bill making money out of his foundation. He's too wealthy to give a fuck at his age, really, about making more money.)
 
This fucking asshole and his bitch wife have single-handedly done more damage to Africa's fresh water systems than almost anything or anyone else in history. They've been handing out chemical-soaked mosquito nets because "No African child should ever die of Malaria again!!1!" since the 80s, only instead of hanging them in their bedrooms the locals sew them together and use them as fish nets, because the mesh is so fine it can be drug along the bottom and pick up everything (including bugs) and the chemicals leech out and kill fish. There are entire lakes, rivers, and streams that are completely devoid of aquatic life and not safe to drink because of Bill Gates and his stupid fucking "save the niggers" initiative. Of course after the fish are gone the locals starve anyways, but then Bill just sends them food, so nothing is learned and there are no consequences.

He's also got his finger in a million mosquito genetic manipulation projects, so I'm sure his path of destruction isn't even close to its peak.
 
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Disgruntled Pupper said:
This fucking asshole and his bitch wife have single-handedly done more damage to Africa's fresh water systems than almost anything or anyone else in history. They've been handing out chemical-soaked mosquito nets because "No African child should ever die of Malaria again!!1!" since the 80s, only instead of hanging them in their bedrooms the locals sew them together and use them as fish nets, because the mesh is so fine it can be drug along the bottom and pick up everything (including bugs) and the chemicals leech out and kill fish. There are entire lakes, rivers, and streams that are completely devoid of aquatic life and not safe to drink because of Bill Gates and his stupid fucking "save the niggas" initiative. Of course after the fish are gone the locals starve anyways, but then Bill just sends them food, so nothing is learned and there are no consequences.

He's also got his finger in a million mosquito genetic manipulation projects, so I'm sure his path of destruction isn't even close to it's peak.
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can you really blame him for thinking "surely nobody would be stupid enough to use chemical soaked mosquito nest as fishing nets, the nets fucking kill mosquitos after all."?
 
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Dunkirk said:
can you really blame him for thinking "surely nobody would be stupid enough to use chemical soaked mosquito nest as fishing nets, the nets fucking kill mosquitos after all."?
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Yeah for the first couple of years but ecologists have been begging him to stop sending these nets since the early 00's. He's well aware of what happens but he doesn't care because he gets to be a white savior and gets asspats from ignorant people.
 
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Dunkirk said:
can you really blame him for thinking "surely nobody would be stupid enough to use chemical soaked mosquito nest as fishing nets, the nets fucking kill mosquitos after all."?
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I wouldn't expect less from an engineer, I grew up with them and this is the most "engineer doesn't get people" thing ever - "Why would you use "X" for something other than the clearly-designed use of "X" ? Oh well, just put a warning on the box "Only use for X" that'll surely stop it"


b0o0pinsn0o0tz said:
The years have not been kind to Bill Gates. Guy looks rough.
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I was pretty shocked too, I worry that "taking time off to pursue philanthropy" might be corporate-speak for "Doctor says it's terminal" :(
 
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