Bill Gates has announced his exit from the boards of Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway to devote more time to philanthropy, he announced Friday.
“to dedicate more time to philanthropic priorities including global health and development, education, and my increasing engagement in tackling climate change,” explaining the reason for his stepping down from the board on his LinkedIn post.
Gates has been gradually reducing his role at Microsoft for the last 20 years. He completed his tenure as CEO in 2000, ended his day-to-day role in June 2008 and stepped down as chairman in February 2014. Microsoft said today that Gates will remain a technology advisor to CEO Satya Nadella and other company executives.
“has been one of the greatest honors of my career,” Gates said, adding that “stepping down from the board in no way means stepping away from the company.”
The news came amid a shuffling of corporate board positions. As Gates announced his departure, Berkshire announced that the board position would be filled by former American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault, who in turn would be leaving the board of Facebook, report NBCNEWS.
Chenault also announces he was stepping down from Facebook’s board “because I have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work more closely with my friend Warren Buffett, the Berkshire Hathaway board and the management team,” he said.
