Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates steps down from Microsoft board

Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has quit his role as the member of the company's board of directors.

Reports say that the 64-year-old left the board of directors to spend more time in his philanthropic endeavours.

"It's been a tremendous honour and privilege to have worked with and learned from Bill over the years," Microsoft chief executive and company veteran Satya Nadella stated in a press release.

"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," he added.

Gates serves as chairman of Microsoft until 2014, after which he decided to phase himself out from company's day-to-day operations to focus more on Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-a private organisation founded by Bill and his wife, focusing on enhancing healthcare, reducing extreme poverty, increasing access to information technology among many other philanthropic goals.

“On behalf of our shareholders and the Board, I want to express my deep appreciation to Bill for all his contributions to Microsoft. As a member of the Board, he challenged us to think big and then think even bigger. He leaves an enduring legacy of curiosity and insight that serves as an inspiration for us all,” said John W. Thompson, Microsoft independent board chair.

The most-renowned entrepreneur of the personal computer revolution has featured on the business magazine’s list of the wealthiest people since 1987.