CEO Steve Ballmer will retire from Microsoft when a new successor is found, but it turns out that shareholders are now trying to continue the restructuring process with a shocking departure.

According to a report published by Reuters and citing people familiar with the matter, three of the 20 Microsoft shareholders, who asked not to be named for obvious reasons, want Bill Gates out of the company.

It turns out that these investors (who own approximately 5 percent of the company’s stock) have started pressuring the board of directors to let Gates go, as they believe that Microsoft’s co-founder is still a very influential person that could block the adoption of new strategies for the Redmond-based tech giant.

Bill Gates, who currently owns 4.5 percent of the company, is also one of the members of a newly-founded committee in charge of finding a new CEO, so the shareholders are afraid that he might influence talks with existing candidates.

Gates, on the other hand, is more focused on his charity efforts than on Microsoft’s business, denying with every single occasion that he could return to the company in a full time position.

In fact, according to recent reports, Bill’s wife Melinda and several close friends have opposed to a return to Microsoft, mostly because they are involved in several philanthropic projects around the world.

At the same time, Redmond continues the search for a new CEO, with sources familiar with negotiations indicating that Ford’s boss Alan Mulally and former Nokia head Stephen Elop are the leading candidates to take over from Ballmer.

Microsoft hasn’t yet issued a statement on this, but in case it’s true, Microsoft is about to lose not only the man who loves the company more than anybody else, but also the one who made the software giant what it is nowadays.