There's a question being whispered around Microsoft's sprawling suburban campus: What will Bill Gates do?
Gates's
role at Microsoft has been a source of wide fascination since he left
his day-to-day responsibilities in 2008. But interest in it has grown in
the past few years as Microsoft has stumbled, and it intensified
sharply in the weeks since Steve Ballmer announced he would be retiring
as Microsoft's chief executive in the next year.
Many employees
and investors fondly remember the company's heyday under Gates, a
towering figure in the tech industry who built Microsoft into a dominant
force. And some Microsoft employees say they have noticed Gates around
the company's campus in Redmond, more often since Ballmer's
announcement, leading to speculation -- perhaps mixed with a dash of
hope -- that he might want to assume a bigger role and return the
company to its past heights.
"It's impossible to walk away from
something that you have shaped and led to that extent, and with which
you are so personally identified," Ed Lazowska, a professor of computer
science at the University of Washington, said of Gates. "I think there's
zero chance that he disengages -- if anything, I bet he engages more."
Whatever
his future duties, Gates already has a strong hand in deciding the
company's direction. He remains Microsoft's chairman and its largest
individual shareholder, and he is one of four members of the committee
leading the search for the next chief executive. His opinion in the
selection process will hold more sway than anyone else's.
Despite
the speculation, it remains a long shot that Gates will take on bigger
day-to-day duties at the company. According to several people close to
him, who spoke on the condition that they not be named because their
discussions were private, Gates has no intention of leaving his
philanthropic career to work again full time at Microsoft. Jon Pinette, a
spokesman for Gates, declined to comment.
Still, the narrative
of the rescuing founder remains a powerful one, especially since Steve
Jobs, a rival of Gates', returned to Apple and transformed it into one
of the world's most profitable companies. Microsoft has struggled in
important new markets in recent years, particularly with mobile phones
and tablets, leading some executives in the tech industry to call for
Gates to return as chief executive.
The search for Ballmer's
replacement is still in its early stages. Although the process could
suddenly accelerate, the board is in no hurry to act before the end of
the year, said a person briefed on the succession plans.
According
to this and another person with knowledge of the Microsoft's chief
executive search, the list of executives being considered for the job
includes Alan Mulally, the chief executive of Ford;Paul Maritz, a former
Microsoft executive who now leads a cloud technology company called
Pivotal; Tony Bates, a current Microsoft executive who came to the
company through its acquisition of Skype; and Stephen Elop, the Nokia
executive who has already announced his intention to return to Microsoft
once the company completes its acquisition of Nokia's phone business.
Frank Shaw, a Microsoft spokesman, declined to comment on potential candidates for chief executive.
Among
outsiders, Mulally of Ford is a favourite because of his success in
reviving Ford without the help of the government bailout and the
bankruptcy filing used by the other two Detroit automakers, General
Motors and Chrysler.
Mulally was unavailable for comment about
whether he has interest in the Microsoft job. He does not have a
software background, which has given some current and former Microsoft
employees pause because they believe the company needs a leader with a
strong technology vision. Another concern is Mulally's age, 68, which
suggests he may not be in the job for long.
Mulally has
consistently said he will stay as chief executive at Ford at least
through 2014. Ford's board is set to meet Wednesday, and its directors
may be under pressure to address the speculation before it becomes a
distraction.
"There is no change to what we announced last
November," said Jay Cooney, a Ford spokesman. "Alan is absolutely
focused on continuing to make progress on the One Ford plan."
No
talk about Microsoft's future gets very far before Gates' name is
mentioned. Long the face of the company and one of the world's richest
people, Gates turned his attention to philanthropy in 2008, focusing
much of his efforts on education and global health challenges like the
fight against HIV.
He has significantly reduced his holdings in
the company in recent years, putting much of the money toward his
philanthropy. But he still owns 4.52% of Microsoft's stock, worth about
$12.8 billion, more than any other individual shareholder. A decade ago,
he held 10.75%.
Along the way, he has remained engaged in
discussions about products at Microsoft, meeting frequently with
executives from the company. Typically, he takes product briefings from
Microsoft executives at his personal offices in Kirkland, a Seattle
suburb a short drive from Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, people
with knowledge of the meetings said. These meetings can happen once a
week or less, depending on his travel schedule for his philanthropic
duties and the flow of Microsoft product development.
At the
product meetings, he has met with managers of the Windows, Bing search
and Office products. He is considered a "fresh set of eyes" whose input
is valued by Microsoft executives, one person familiar with the meetings
said.
For reasons that are unclear, Gates showed up for a
handful of product briefings on the company's campus in the weeks after
Ballmer's resignation was announced. Shaw of Microsoft said the amount
of time Gates was spending with Microsoft employees had not changed
meaningfully.
"Bill's overall engagement with Microsoft product
and engineering teams has remained consistent since he transitioned to
his current role," Shaw said.
There is a faction of Microsoft
investors and former employees that thinks the company needs less, not
more, of Gates. As chairman, these people believe, Gates deserves equal
blame for Microsoft's travails.
Last week, news reports surfaced
that three unnamed shareholders had begun pressing the Microsoft board
for Gates to leave as chairman because they believed he would be an
impediment to strategy changes by the new chief executive.
Any
such push is unlikely to succeed in forcing Gates to distance himself
from the company, according to several people who know Gates and the
dynamics of the board. Last Thursday, the Microsoft board recommended
Gates's re-election as a director, according to a company securities
filing.
Gates's future role will partly be up to the new chief
executive. Jeffrey A Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean at the Yale
School of Management, said it would be important for Microsoft's new
leader to keep Gates around.
"I think it's hugely positive," he
said about Gates's presence at the company. "You can have a wise elder
statesperson who is very inspirational if they know the boundaries."
Among
many aspiring techies, he still remains an inspirational, Walt
Disney-like figure seen as a founding father of the industry.
"When
I was growing up, Bill Gates was my hero," Mark Zuckerberg, the chief
executive of Facebook, said in a speech at a conference last month. He
added: "I think he's one of the greatest visionaries that our industry
has ever had."
Google is
making a big push to boost YouTube usage in India and is in talks
with direct-to-home cable providers to bring the service to televisions
screens, its global director of platform partnerships, Francisco Varela,
said.
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