Microsoft's founder and chairman Bill Gates is currently under fire as three investors appealed for his resignation, according to Reuters.

A representative of Microsoft declined to disclosed the identity of the three investors who hold not more than 5% of the company's stock.

Gates, on the other hand, owns about 4.5% of the $277 billion software company and is the largest individual shareholder.

According to the report, the investors are concerned that Gates can influence or block the adoption and implementation of new strategies aimed for substantial changes by the new chief executive.

Moreover, the investors are worried that Gates will exercise power out of proportion due to his declining shares. Bill Gates previously owned 49 percent of Microsoft before it had an IPO in 1986. He sells about 80 million worth of Microsoft shares per year under a pre-set plan. At this  rate, his shares in the tech giant will deplete by 2018.

Gates took the back seat in handling Microsoft after Ballmer took over the CEO role in 2000 and focused on his philanthropic ventures through his $38 billion Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

For years, Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer has been put under pressure to improve the company's performance and price of shares.

Microsoft remains one of the world's most popular tech company, which made a net profit of $22 billion last year. However, the Windows computing operating system and Microsoft Office are under pressure due to the decline in personal computers and the rise of smartphones and tablets.