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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

#31

Post by tuna-piano »

robertfw wrote: post #9
dcolkitt wrote: post #7

The optimist in me wants to believe that this means he's about to be appointed as the head of the national coronavirus response. There's probably no better qualified person in the world to manage the coordinated effort.

Why on earth would he be the most qualified person for that?

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, epidemics, etc. He's super curious and doesn't stop learning.

Who could be more qualified for the job?

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

#33

Post by david-gpu »

jrandm wrote: post #22
thinkingkong wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whats the advantage or strategy behind having someone from Marriott?

I can't speak for them, but I'd imagine an international hotel chain would have some unique views on things like travel trends.

...which are immediately relevant to the interests of Microsoft because...?

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

#34

Post by chx »

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.

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

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

#35

Post by dave5104 »

goatherders wrote: post #30
jrandm wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't speak for them, but I'd imagine an international hotel chain would have some unique views on things like travel trends.

I doubt it has anything to do with travel trends anymore than GSk being there has anything to do with pharma. These are business executives whose specific domain of expertise is business, not travel or pharma or banking, etc.

They can also represent the enterprise software needs for those industries.

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

#36

Post by dlp211 »

thinkingkong wrote: post #16
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…

Whats the advantage or strategy behind having someone from Marriott?

Nothing. It's a way for the C-class to give each other more money.

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

#37

Post by dahart »

thinkingkong wrote: post #16
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…

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?

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

#38

Post by dave5104 »

tuna-piano wrote: post #31
robertfw wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why on earth would he be the most qualified person for that?

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.

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

#39

Post by brk »

hinkley wrote: post #24
danielhlockard wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Likely because of the work the Gates foundation has done on infectious disease across the world.

Also it seems like the sort of proposal that 45 would be willing to consider.

To be completely serious, no it doesn't. I do not see an appointment of someone who is clearly both richer and smarter to be the frontman of the largest crisis to hit the country in recent history.
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