Bangalore: Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft Corp is under pressure as three lobbying investors out of the top 20 investors of the software company are forcing him to step down.

Gates co-founded Microsoft 38 years ago and is one of the most respected and influential figures in technology. He owns 4.5 percent share of the $277 billion company, making him the largest shareholder.

According to sources, there is no indication that Microsoft board would act on the wishes of three investors, who collectively hold more than 5 percent of the company’s stock. This is the first time Gates is being targeted by major shareholders as they are concerned about his role as chairman. While Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive of Microsoft has been pressurized for years to improve the company’s performance for a better share price; Gates has been effectively restraining adoption of new strategies, thereby limiting the power of the Chief Executive to make required changes. They also point to Gate’s role on the special committee on searching for Ballmer’s successor.

In 2000, Gates handed the CEO role to Ballmer and in 2008, gave up his day-job to focus completely on the $38 billion Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Thus these shareholders are worried about Gates’s declining shareholding as he once owned 49 percent of share before Microsoft went public in 1986 and then started selling 80 million shares a year, which if continued would predictably leave him with no financial stake in the company by 2018.

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