Microsoft exec to head the Gates Foundation

SEATTLE (AP) — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said Monday that Microsoft Corp. executive Jeff Raikes will take over in September as chief executive of the world's largest charitable foundation.

The foundation has been looking for a new leader since chief executive Patty Stonesifer announced in February that she would step down.

Until earlier this year, Raikes was president of Microsoft's business software division, responsible for such things as the Office software suite, Microsoft's server software and applications that help businesses track customers and business processes.

In the past decade, the Gates Foundation has given away more than $16 billion, mostly in global health, global development and U.S. education.