Gates Getting Out Of Microsoft

Bill Gates announced today that he's leaving Microsoft to join Robert Scobleizer at Podtech.net where the two will do a call-in style podcast together to air three times a week. It will also include the two of them riffing on the tech news and prank dialing startups ("Hi, this is Bill Gates, I have a billion I'd like to invest in your...olefactorycasts? Ahahahahahaha! Right! Ahahahahaha!"). The two were said to share a moment of sad silence after they mistakenly pranked their own employer, netpod.tech, during a trial run.

No, actually Bill Gates is pulling back to an advisory roll in July and letting Mundie and Ozzie get their hands on the reigns for a bit. The press release from Microsoft indicates that Gates will spend his time after Microsoft getting more involved with his growing charitable empire, The Gates Foundation.

REDMOND, Wash. — June 15, 2006 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that effective July 2008 Bill Gates, chairman, will transition out of a day-to-day role in the company to spend more time on his global health and education work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The company announced a two-year transition process to ensure that there is a smooth and orderly transfer of Gates’ daily responsibilities, and said that after July 2008 Gates would continue to serve as the company’s chairman and an advisor on key development projects.