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Bill Gates has stepped down from Microsoft's board

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Re: Bill Gates has stepped down from Microsoft's board

#41

Post by syedkarim »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #27
vikramkr wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, it is pretty diverse for a corporate board. About a third women, couple people of color including the CEO and chairman. That's well ahead of the curve.

Somewhat diverse by race and gender. Completely non-diverse in terms of socioeconomic status, which may have been jayzalowitz's point. (Or may not. Maybe there wasn't a point except some drive-by snark. It's hard to tell with a post like that.)

Do any Fortune 500 boards have diversity in socioeconomic status?

Re: Bill Gates has stepped down from Microsoft's board

#42

Post by sjwright »

chx wrote: post #34
daxfohl wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kind of odd, being an employee there, I've never heard of eleven of the twelve board members before.

Usually you don't. The board is not something that directly affects employees lives.

A self-evidently false assertion.

Re: Bill Gates has stepped down from Microsoft's board

#43

Post by Aeolun »

chollida1 wrote: post #3

Also stepped down from the Berkshire board as well. Given that he stepped away from a day to day role in 2008 and then stepped down as the chairman in 2014, I'm guessing he's focusing on his foundation. He's still the 8th largest shareholder according to Bloomberg's records(103,000,000 share), which is pretty impressive given that the 7 entities above him are all funds. Incase you wanted to know who the remaining 12…

Seems microsoft is jointly controlled by a whole bunch of other companies.

Re: Bill Gates has stepped down from Microsoft's board

#44

Post by sytelus »

daxfohl wrote: post #20
chollida1 wrote: post #3

Also stepped down from the Berkshire board as well. Given that he stepped away from a day to day role in 2008 and then stepped down as the chairman in 2014, I'm guessing he's focusing on his foundation. He's still the 8th largest shareholder according to Bloomberg's records(103,000,000 share), which is pretty impressive given that the 7 entities above him are all funds. Incase you wanted to know who the remaining 12…

Kind of odd, being an employee there, I've never heard of eleven of the twelve board members before.

Most of the board members seem to be partners at various investment firms. Many of them don't seem to even remotely tech people. It's kind of sad that the Microsoft board lacks any external visionaries.

Re: Bill Gates has stepped down from Microsoft's board

#45

Post by hoten »

dave5104 wrote: post #38
tuna-piano wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Bill Gates is extremely competitive, he's a bulldog, he fights and wants to win against whatever. He built Microsoft into a Monopoly and is fighting hard (and doing a great job) against diseases. 2. Bill Gates looks at problems logically, finds missing links, and solves those links. Whether that is refrigeration for vaccines, getting useful data for diseases, etc. 3. Bill Gates knows a ton about diseases, epidemic…

Maybe someone with a medical degree? Gates can certainly bring some unique skills to the table if he was invited, but it seems like we should have an actual doctor leading the charge.

He'd obviously consult top doctors. Why would a doctor be better at organizing a large response than a proven business leader who pivoted to disease control?

Re: Bill Gates has stepped down from Microsoft's board

#46

Post by spsful »

dahart wrote: post #37
thinkingkong wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whats the advantage or strategy behind having someone from Marriott?

Boards serve in part to guide networking and policy for executives, and some are required to be external. It makes complete sense to have executives from other large corporations like Marriott. Marriott doesn't seem to stand out as any further away from software than any of the other board members, so maybe I'm not understanding your question; what about Marriott specifically caught your eye?

He would probably like to know why it makes sense to hire these external heads. If you were talking about the most outlandish of these board members, why would you say they deserve to be on the board? (I'm genuinely asking here as I don't know why myself)

Re: Bill Gates has stepped down from Microsoft's board

#47

Post by subaru_shoe »

chx wrote: post #34
daxfohl wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kind of odd, being an employee there, I've never heard of eleven of the twelve board members before.

Usually you don't. The board is not something that directly affects employees lives.

what ? that’s not remotely close to reality

Re: Bill Gates has stepped down from Microsoft's board

#48

Post by legitster »

Aeolun wrote: post #43
chollida1 wrote: post #3

Also stepped down from the Berkshire board as well. Given that he stepped away from a day to day role in 2008 and then stepped down as the chairman in 2014, I'm guessing he's focusing on his foundation. He's still the 8th largest shareholder according to Bloomberg's records(103,000,000 share), which is pretty impressive given that the 7 entities above him are all funds. Incase you wanted to know who the remaining 12…

Seems microsoft is jointly controlled by a whole bunch of other companies.

That's how boards of directors work.

Re: Bill Gates has stepped down from Microsoft's board

#49

Post by natalyarostova »

dave5104 wrote: post #38
tuna-piano wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Bill Gates is extremely competitive, he's a bulldog, he fights and wants to win against whatever. He built Microsoft into a Monopoly and is fighting hard (and doing a great job) against diseases. 2. Bill Gates looks at problems logically, finds missing links, and solves those links. Whether that is refrigeration for vaccines, getting useful data for diseases, etc. 3. Bill Gates knows a ton about diseases, epidemic…

Maybe someone with a medical degree? Gates can certainly bring some unique skills to the table if he was invited, but it seems like we should have an actual doctor leading the charge.

Why? Being an MD isn't a huge deal in these cases. Not to say that having knowledge of the fundamentals of biology or healthcare isn't useful, but managing thousands of people, complex human systems, mass organizations, and building a plan to eliminate a disease is not something they teach in medical school.

Gates has done more to battle malaria and other diseases than anyone currently alive. His track record is second to none, in terms of building a huge strategy, managing complex systems, and executing a pragmatic plan. And I suspect he has many MDs in his close circle of advisers who he relies on. A leader doesn't need to be a specialist -- they need to be a leader, a generalist, and rely on a team for specialist knowledge.

Re: Bill Gates has stepped down from Microsoft's board

#50

Post by haecceity »

chx wrote: post #34
daxfohl wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kind of odd, being an employee there, I've never heard of eleven of the twelve board members before.

Usually you don't. The board is not something that directly affects employees lives.

What do they do exactly?
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