Time for Bill Gates to go, some top Microsoft investors tell board

Three of the top 20 investors in Microsoft Corp. are lobbying the board to press for Bill Gates to step down as chairman of the software company he co-founded 38 years ago, according to people familiar with the matter. 

The three investors are concerned that Gates' presence on the board effectively blocks the adoption of new strategies and would limit the power of a new chief executive to make substantial changes. In particular, they point to Gates' role on the special committee searching for Ballmer's successor. 

Time for Gates to go, some top Microsoft investors tell board!

Bill Gates owned 49 percent of Microsoft before being made public in 1986, he sells about 80 million Microsoft shares a year under a preset plan, that, if conned would lead him with no financial stake in the company by the year 2018 

Microsoft is now looking for a new CEO

One of the sources said Gates was one of the technology industry's greatest pioneers, but the investors felt he was more effective as chief executive than as chairman.