Bill Gate's new role

Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and world's richest man has announced that he will step down from handling day-to day activities at Microsoft.

Mr. Gates,50, who founded Microsoft when he was 20, has successfully established the company as the leader in computer and internet technology. According to Globeandmail.com, "Mr. Gates, 50, will remain as chairman and a company adviser, but will turn over the day-to-day running of the company to a key cadre of executives, who face the onerous task of keeping Microsoft on top in the fiercely competitive world of Internet services.

Microsoft, the monolith of the personal computer age, has seen its dominance eroded by upstarts like Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. as the Internet becomes increasingly more critical and profitable."

Microsoft has doubled its revenue to $60-billion (U.S.) a year, and most recently posted its first $1-billion quarterly profit, according to reports.

Mr Gates will now focus on working for Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. A charity he founded with his wife,with assets of $29-billion (U.S.), which works on health care and education in Africa and India. The foundation is also active in providing educational materials and grants to US schools.