Bill Gates bid goodbye on Friday to Microsoft Corp, the software maker he built into the world’s most valuable technology company based on the ambitious goal of placing a computer on every desk and in every home.

He leaves his full-time executive role at Microsoft, which he co-founded with childhood friend Paul Allen in 1975, to focus on his philanthropic organization, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest charity, funded in part by his vast fortune.

Gates who will become a non-executive chairman and work part-time, was once the world’s richest man, Gates’ personal fortune has been estimated at about $58 billion, according to Forbes Magazine.

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