However, for all the Bill Gates fans out there, don’t worry… he won’t be leaving Microsoft entirely! The announcement also confirmed that he’d continue to serve as a Technology Advisor to the current Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella.

The news should come as no surprise to anyone who follows news about Microsoft as in recent years he’s spent more and more time on his philanthropic work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which he founded back in 2008.

It’s been a tremendous honour and privilege to have worked with and learned from Bill over the years. Bill founded our company with a belief in the democratizing force of software and a passion to solve society’s most pressing challenges. And Microsoft and the world are better for it.

I am grateful for Bill’s friendship and look forward to continuing to work alongside him to realize our mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella

With Bill Gates departure, the Microsoft board will now consist of just twelve…

Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft
John W. Thompson, Microsoft independent chair
Reid Hoffman, partner at Greylock Partners
Hugh Johnston, vice chairman and chief financial officer of PepsiCo
Teri L. List-Stoll, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Gap, Inc.
Sandra E. Peterson, operating partner, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
Penny Pritzker, founder and chairman, PSP Partners
Charles W. Scharf, chief executive officer and president of Wells Fargo & Co.
Arne Sorenson, president and CEO, Marriott International Inc.
John W. Stanton, chairman of Trilogy Equity Partners
Emma Walmsley, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK)
Padmasree Warrior, founder, CEO and president, Fable Group Inc.

cloudThing have been a Microsoft Gold Partner since their founding and whilst we’ll be sad to see Bill go we’re also excited for the future, as Microsoft continues to expand its Enterprise level Cloud-based offerings.