Is Bill Gates Returning to Microsoft?

Great companies are created by visionaries. Furthermore, companies only stay great when they are controlled by those visionaries. Apple is a great example of this. When Steve Jobs left Apple, the company slipped into near obscurity and it was only when he returned that the company was reborn to what it now is today.

Ever since Steve Balmer has been in charge at Microsoft, its stock prices have languished at more or less the same price. Microsoft is also no longer the most capitalized technology company in the world. First Apple surpassed it and more recently IBM also surpassed it. Microsoft is on its way to its own obscurity. What can be done about it?

The simple answer is to bring Bill Gates back to Microsoft. Sounds crazy? Maybe not. Bill Gates is reliant on Microsoft doing well in order for The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to also succeed. Money begets money and Bill needs Microsoft’s money. So maybe it’s time for Bill to spend a little time back in charge of the mother company. Maybe it’s time for Bill to shake up the Microsoft world a little. The days of Windows are fast disappearing, and the days of Xbox (and its successor) are coming into prevalence. Microsoft needs the next big thing and Bill Gates is the man to deliver it.

Visionaries define a company’s success. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerburg. These people are winners. Steve Balmer, not so much. So from someone who has spent his life in technology, I am asking please Mr. Gates, do the right thing and rescue the company you built from nothing and now needs your help. I know you have more to give this world and it’s not just the cure for Polio. Technology is the cornerstone of breakthroughs in many fields and perhaps the Gates Foundation can benefit from work you now need to do back at Microsoft.