Jeff Raikes named new CEO of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Jeff Raikes, a Microsoft employee since 1981 and current head of the Office Business Division, will be replacing Patty Stonesifer as the CEO of the $37.3 billion Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Raikes has been close to the First Couple at Microsoft for some time, and has some nonprofit experience through a trusteeship at the University of Nebraska. A sports fan who takes his daughter to University of Washington women's basketball games, Raikes is also part-owner of the Seattle Mariners baseball club. In the announcement, the foundation said it will be doubling the employment rolls. Look for more senior "softies" to move to the charitable organization as a pre-retirement change of pace. But the question remains why the foundation can't, or won't, hire more experience non-profit veterans to manage the fund.(Photo by Steve Jurvetson)