蓋茨“轉身”：從微軟帝國到慈善世界

A Harvard University dropout who ushered in the home computer age and made billions of dollars along the way will have his last official day of work at Microsoft on June 27.

Three people will essentially fill the void left behind when Bill Gates retires from the company he and friend Paul Allen co-founded in 1975.

Since Gate's began his transition from leading Microsoft to heading his personally-bankrolled charity, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation , his job as chief software architect has been handled by Ray Ozzie.

Craig Mundie inherited Gate's chief research and strategy officer duties, while former Harvard classmate Steve Ballmer became chief executive officer at the Seattle-based software colossus.

Gates left Harvard after two years to found the firm that became global powerhouse Microsoft. He later received honorary degrees from Harvard and other universities.

After retiring, Gates will remain chairman of the Microsoft board of directors and its largest shareholder.

"I don't think anything is going to drastically change the day he leaves," said Matt Rosoff of the private analyst firm Directions on Microsoft.

"If he thinks something is important and tells Steve Ballmer, Ballmer will listen to him."

Still, Gates's bespectacled nerdish visage is an integral part of Microsoft's image and his departure is symbolic, according to analysts.

"The challenge Microsoft has when the founder departs is remembering its heart," said analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group in Silicon Valley.

"At some point the firm has to take the essence of what made Bill Gates successful and make sure that is preserved. Whether it is a company or a person, once you've lost your heart there isn't much left but a shell."

哈佛大學輟學學生比爾•蓋茨開創了家庭電腦時代，成爲億萬富翁。6月27日將是他在位於西雅圖的軟件巨頭微軟公司工作的最後一天。

蓋茨和他的朋友保羅•艾倫於1975年合夥創建了微軟公司，蓋茨退休以後將會有三個人來填補他的職位空缺。

在蓋茨開始將其重心由微軟逐漸轉向其個人出資創立的“比爾和梅琳達蓋茨基金會”的時候，首席軟件設計師的職位已經由雷•奧齊接替。

克雷格•蒙迪接手了蓋茨首席研究師與戰略決策官的職位，而蓋茨的哈佛大學同窗斯蒂夫•鮑爾默則成爲公司首席執行官。

蓋茨在離開哈佛兩年之後創建了後來全球領先的微軟公司。後來，他獲得了哈佛以及其他一些大學的榮譽學位。

退休以後，蓋茨仍然會是微軟的董事會主席及公司最大的股東。

來自微軟獨立分析公司“微軟方向”的馬特•羅瑟福說：“我認爲他走那天不會有什麼太大的變化。”

“如果他覺得某件事情很重要並且告訴了斯蒂夫•鮑爾默，鮑爾默會聽從他的。”

不過，分析家們還是認爲蓋茨戴着眼鏡的書呆子形象已是微軟整體形象的一部分，而他的離開是有標誌意義的。

硅谷恩德勒集團分析師羅伯•恩德勒說：“微軟在其創建者離開後面臨的挑戰是要記住它的精神。”

“從某種程度上說，微軟公司需要汲取蓋茨成功的因素，還要確保它們繼續發揮作用。不管是公司還是個人，一旦失掉靈魂，就只剩下一個空殼了。”