Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, (right) speaks to employees as CEO Steve Ballmer looks on, during a Employee Town Hall event celebrating Gates' career and achievements. Redmond, Wash., June 27, 2008.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, (right) speaks to employees as CEO Steve Ballmer looks on, during a Employee Town Hall event celebrating Gates' career and achievements. Redmond, Wash., June 27, 2008.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (left) talks to employees as chairman Bill Gates looks on, at a Employee Town Hall event celebrating Gates' career and achievements on his last day as a full-time Microsoft employee. Redmond, Wash., June 27, 2008.
June 15, 2006, Redmond, Wash: (L-R) Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie, Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie and CEO Steve Ballmer gather prior to a news conference announcing plans for Gates to transition out of a day-to-day role in Microsoft over the next two years while Ozzie and Mundie assume increased roles in the company.
June 15, 2006, Redmond, Wash: (L-R) Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie, Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie and CEO Steve Ballmer.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates at a news conference announcing senior-leadership transition at the company. Redmond., Wash., June 15, 2006
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at a news conference announcing senior-leadership transition at the company. Redmond., Wash., June 15, 2006
(L-R): Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Chairman Bill Gates at a news conference to discuss Microsoft's senior-leadership transition plans. Redmond, Wash., June 15, 2006.
Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer talks to students about software, the evolution of technology and innovation yet to come during the 17th annual Blacks at Microsoft Minority Student Day in Redmond, Wash, Feb. 8, 2008.
Bill Gates, Microsoft Chairman, left, and Craig Mundie, Microsoft Chief Research and Strategy Officer address participants of Microsoft's 2007 Imagine Cup, which encourages students to use their creativity to solve real world problems.
Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft, discusses the transformative power of information technology in his opening keynote session at the Government Leaders Forum—Asia. Jakarta, Indonesia, May 8, 2008.
Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie presenting the company’s vision for the next generation of web development at Microsoft’s MIX ’07 conference. May 1, 2007, Las Vegas, Nev.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie at the Microsoft Annual Company meeting in 2005, marking Microsoft's 30th Anniversary. Seattle, Wash. Sept. 23, 2005
A photo of the "Albuquerque Group", the original 11 members of Microsoft that worked at the company in Albuquerque, New Mexico before Microsoft relocated to Washington state. Pictured are, back row, from left: Steve Wood, Bob Wallace, Jim Lane; second row, from left: Bob O' Rear, Bob Greenberg, Marc McDonald, Gordon Letwin; front row, from left: Bill Gates, Andrea Lewis, Marla Wood, Paul Allen. Dec. 7, 1978
An updated version of the "Albuquerque Group" photo. Pictured are, back row, from left: Bob O' Rear, Steve Wood, Bob Greenberg, Marc McDonald, Gordon Letwin, James Lane. Front row, from left: Bill Gates, Andrea Lewis, Miriam Lubow*, Marla Wood, Paul Allen. April, 2008. * Not included in the original 1978 photo.
Not pictured: Bob Wallace, deceased.
Released in 1975, the MITS Altair 8800 (pictured with computer punch tape) was one of the first "microcomputers" available to hobbyists. It was also the machine that ran Microsoft's founding product - Altair BASIC.
Paul Allen (left) and Bill Gates Oct. 19, 1981 surrounded by personal computers, shortly after signing a major contract with IBM to write software for their upcoming line of PCs.
Bill Gates, 1987.
Bill Gates speaking during the launch of Microsoft Windows 95 in Redmond, Wash. Aug. 24, 1995.
Aerial photo of the Microsoft Campus, taken in 2004.
Bill Gates at his desk in the early 1990s.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, 1997.
