Ted Waitt, the founder of Irvine-based PC maker Gateway, is retiring after 20 years as chairman to focus on other business and philanthropic interests.

Waitt announced he will step down from the board of directors after Gateway’s annual shareholders meeting Thursday in Costa Mesa.

“We’ve built one of the best brands instantly recognizable around the world,” Waitt said in a statement. “But now my interests are vast and varied and I’d like to be able to take on some new challenges in the next 20 years.”

Richard Snyder, a director and former Gateway president, is set to become chairman. Snyder is chief executive of Ardesta LLC, a Michigan investment company. He has been a director of Gateway since 1991, when he joined the company as executive vice president and later became president and chief operating officer. He left Gateway’s management in 1997.

The board also named Janet M. Clarke as an independent director.

Waitt founded Gateway at his family’s Iowa farm in 1985. He now lives in San Diego.

Last year, Gateway, bought discount PC seller eMachines for $290 million, appointing Wayne Inouye as CEO. Inouye closed Gateway stores and turned the company around, installing a handpicked team of executives and moving the Fortune 500 company from San Diego to Irvine.

Gateway’s share of U.S. PC market slid from a high of 9.1 percent in 1999 to 5.8 percent last year. Gateway lost $2.4 billion from 2001 to 2004 because of the high cost of running stores.