Enlarge / US Microsoft founder, Co-Chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, poses for a picture on October 9, 2019, in Lyon, central eastern France, during the funding conference of Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. (credit: Jeff Pachoud | Getty Images) Just over 20 years after stepping down as CEO of Microsoft and six years after relinquishing his position as Chairman of the Board, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates has resigned from the Microsoft Board of Directors.