Twenty-nine years after co-founding what would become the world`s largest software company, Bill Gates has announced he will retire from day-to-day involvement in Microsoft.
Newswire Associated Press reported on Friday that Gates plans to concentrate on his charity, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
It added that he would remain Microsoft chairman while gradually transferring his duties over a two-year period.
It is understood Gates revealed his plans to relinquish his day-to-day responsibilities to his CEO Steve Ballmer in July 2004.
He and Ballmer announced the news to the board of directors last week.
"This was a hard decision for me," said Gates in Friday`s Toronto Sun. "But, as I prepare for this change, I firmly believe the road ahead for Microsoft is as bright as ever."
Now 50, Gates is judged by business and financial magazine Forbes as having a net worth of about $51 billion.
His foundation`s grants have provided funds for underrepresented minority college scholarships, AIDS prevention and diseases that strike mainly in the Third World.
Reuters has since reported that Ray Ozzie will assume the position of chief software architect, and Craig Mundie will take over some of Gates` role as long-term visionary.
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