Microsoft Tech Officer Leaves Job

by Michael J. Martinez, AP Business Writer
May 4, 2000, 11:00 am GMT

SEATTLE (AP) - Nathan Myhrvold, the chief technology officer at Microsoft Corp., said Wednesday he will not return full time to the company he served for 14 years.

Myhrvold said he would continue to advise Microsoft chairman Bill Gates occasionally, as he has since going on leave last summer to pursue other interests.

``If I wanted to do a single thing, I'd go back to Microsoft,'' Myhrvold said. ``But there's so much I want to do and try, and so far I've been having a great time doing it.''

Myhrvold came to Microsoft in 1986 after the software giant purchased Dynamical Systems, a company Myhrvold had founded. He quickly became a confidant to Gates, who is said to consider him a rare intellectual equal.

``Nathan's contributions to Microsoft and to the creation of Microsoft Research were critical,'' Gates said in a statement. ``I look forward to continuing to work with Nathan, although it won't be in a full-time capacity.''

Myhrvold said his proudest achievement was the creation of Microsoft Research, the company's research and development division.

Myhrvold holds a doctorate in theoretical and mathematical physics and also has certificates in mountain climbing, formula car racing, photography and French cooking. He has been known on occasion to cook at Rover's, an expensive five-star restaurant in Seattle.

Myhrvold recently moved into offices near Microsoft's campus and hired a staff for ``Intellectual Ventures,'' which handles his various investments and philanthropic efforts and has a gigantic Tyrannosaurus Rex head in the hall.

Myhrvold said he is interested in helping start new companies, particularly in the area of biotechnology. But his efforts will be broadly based, he said.

``This is one of the greatest times of opportunity in human history,'' he said. ``I don't want to miss it.''