Gates Leaves Microsoft Board to Focus on Philanthropy

Bill Gates said he’s stepping down from the board of Microsoft Corp., the company he co-founded in 1975 and built into the world’s largest software maker, to devote more time to philanthropy.

Gates, 64, has been scaling back his involvement in the Redmond, Washington-based company for more than a decade. Most recently he’d been serving as an adviser to current Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella on technology areas including productivity, health software and artificial intelligence, and he will continue to do so.

“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 wrote in a blog post Friday. “I feel more optimistic than ever about the progress the company is making and how it can continue to benefit the world.”