[pearjuice]

If I were him I would never-ever take that position as a CEO ever again. He is basically living the dream right now without debts to Microsoft - like unfinished duty or bad rep - and a clean name (founder of MS, steered himself and MS into billionairity yet giving away all his money now).

Unless it is guaranteed Microsoft will climb out of the hole it is in when Gates gets on top, it can only hurt him in terms of pressure and imago. He should stay in the think tank and consulting group, far away from anything really mission critical. No, Gates deserves to be remembered as-is and not as a broken, old man who desperately tried to save an old legacy company to the day he died.

[ics]

Surely what Mr. Gates needs to do here is start a scrappy little tech startup, hide it away from the world for a few months/years, while developing all the stuff he wished MS could do if it wasn't in debt to its current customer base, and then infiltrate MS under guise of a courtesy acquisition.

[penguin_gab]

And come back as interim CEO?

[CamperBob2]

Agreed, the best he could hope for is to become the next Michael Dell.

[foolfoolz]

what hole is microsoft in?

[pearjuice]

One which catches companies when they approach or are of beomoth-size. They are unable to move, grow or clean themselves in that hole, yet manage to live for years on end due to fat reserves and build relations which will throw them supplies from above.

[kevingbell]

the one without all the google/apple money

[jlgreco]

The one that prompted this proposal in the first place?