Who wants Bill Gates to Step Down as Microsoft Chairman?

Some of his investors do...

Bill Gates won't be smiling at the idea

Microsoft investors want Bill Gates to step down as chairman

MONEY MEN WITH VESTED INTERESTS in software flogger Microsoft would like to see chairman Bill Gates step down.

Reuters reported that three investors want Bill Gates out. Together, the unnamed investors hold approximately five percent of Microsoft.

It is possible though perhaps unlikely that the investors want Gates to return as CEO. The Microsoft CEO's office is due to have a spinning chair soon, when Steve Ballmer retires, and Gates, if nothing else, has some history at the firm.

Also named as a possible Microsoft CEO candidate is Stephen Elop, a phoenix-like figure who made some ripples at Nokia.

No comment from Microsoft, but Reuters reported that this is the first time that anyone has said, in secret and without disclosing any names, that they are getting a bit tired of Gates.

The concern is that Gates will get in the way of any real change, and, as part of his role in the hunt for a Ballmer successor, will back someone who is happy to stay the course Ballmer that laid out.

Source: The Inquirer