That's what happened to the value of his Microsoft shareholdings when the markets heard he was leaving. Often described as an anti-Steve Jobs -- for missing all the important technological waves unlike the Swami from Cupertino -- that announcement sounded like Gates getting rid of his old buddy because otherwise there would have been a smoother transition at the top of the Redmond-based giant.
Interestingly they are bringing back a former Microsoft guy, Stephen Elop, along with part of the former maker of toilet paper he's been trying to fix for a couple of years: Nokia. Probably to be the next CEO. Soon. Elop is famous for a "burning platform" he wrote a few years back. Something Mauritius Inc cannot miss reading.
