What advisory role did Bill Gates take at Microsoft after leaving his full-time work in 2008?

Bill Gates became a technology advisor to Microsoft after leaving his full-time work at the company in 2008.

Gates had already stepped down as Microsoft’s chief executive officer in 2000, while remaining chairman and continuing to guide the company. In June 2006, he began reducing his daily involvement so he could devote more time to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He completed his full-time transition in 2008.

His advisory role allowed Microsoft to draw on his experience without making him responsible for routine executive management. Gates continued serving as Microsoft’s chairman until 2014, when he left that position and became technology adviser to CEO Satya Nadella.

The titles are easy to mix up because Gates held several senior roles over decades. He was co-founder, CEO, chairman, and later a technology adviser, but these positions belonged to different stages of Microsoft’s history.