Former Microsoft Exec Raikes Joins Costco Board

Raikes is the 14th member of the Costco board, which also includes William H. Gates Sr. (Bill Gates' father), Yahoo President Susan Decker and Charles T. Munger, vice chairman of the board of Berkshire Hathaway.

Raikes joined the Gates Foundation in September, and is responsible for setting strategic priorities, monitoring results and facilitating relationships with key partners spanning all the foundation's program groups.

At Microsoft, Raikes was heavily involved in defining Microsoft's information worker business and driving the software giant's push into the productivity applications space. One of Raikes' last major projects at Microsoft was helping Chairman Bill Gates talk up the benefits of unified communications.

Raikes and his wife Tricia have their own philanthropic organization, the Raikes Foundation, which focuses on youth development, education and critical community projects, and also makes direct grants to nonprofit organizations.