Waving Good-Bye to Bill Gates

As June 27 gets closer and closer, technology pendants, competitors and fellow colleagues face the growing realization that Bill Gates will soon leave the technology industry and his position as chairman of Microsoft. It’s not entirely clear what impact the leave will have, but the entire incident remains to be a historical event worth noting.

The man, despite any personal grievances one may hold, has made many contributions to the technology and software industry, as well as to the world through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Although Gates will still have a part time job at Microsoft, he will not be there on a day-to-day basis and will instead focus his efforts on his charity.

It’s a nice thing to see fellow CEOs give their respects and say their goodbyes to the man who essentially changed the personal computer to be what we know it today. CNet has a collection of 13 technology leaders saying goodbye to Bill Gates, and his legacy.

As Bill Gates steps down from full-time work at Microsoft, well-wishing cheers and not-so-nice jeers are echoing from Silicon Valley. After 32 years of competition and acquisition, Gates managed to ruffle some feathers, while still making some famous friends. After the end of this month, Gates plans to spend only 20 percent of his time as a Microsoft chairman and the rest of his time will be devoted to the Gates Foundation and other pet projects.