Bill Gates

Bill Gates is an American business magnate and computer programmer who is the co-founder of Microsoft, the world’s largest PC software company. Since the company’s formation in 1975, Gates has held several positions including those of the chairman, CEO and chief software architect. One of the most famous entrepreneurs of the personal computer revolution, he has been consistently ranked among the world’s wealthiest people starting from 1987. Born as the son of a successful lawyer, Bill Gates was encouraged from a young age to be competitive. Bright and curious, he developed an interest in computers while in school and wrote his first computer program as a young teenager. After completing his schooling, he enrolled at the prestigious Harvard College though he did not stay there long enough to complete his studies. He dropped out to pursue his passion in computers and teamed up with Paul Allen, a former schoolmate, to form Microsoft. The company proved to be highly successful and within years Gates became an internationally known entrepreneur. Among the wealthiest persons in the world, Bill Gates is a renowned philanthropist and along with his ex-wife, he has created the charity organization Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He has also authored and co-authored several books.. He has also authored and co-authored several books.

Childhood & Early Life

Born as William Henry "Bill" Gates III on October 28, 1955, he is the son of William H. Gates, Sr. and Mary Maxwell Gates. His father was a prominent lawyer while his mother served on the board of directors for First Interstate BancSystem and the United Way. He has two sisters.

He studied at the Lakeside School where he developed an interest in computing. He was just 13 when he wrote his first software program on the school’s computer and by the time he was in high school he, along with some of his friends, had computerized their school’s payroll system.

His future business collaborator, Paul Allen, was a senior at Lakeside. At the age of 17, Gates teamed up with Allen to form a venture called Traf-O-Data, to make traffic counters based on the Intel 8008 processor.

He graduated from high school in 1973. He was a National Merit Scholar and scored 1590 out of 1600 on the SAT. He enrolled at Harvard College later the same year. As a college student he spent a lot of time on the computers though he was not much interested in studying other subjects. His friend Allen suggested that Bill drop out of college to start a business.

Career

Bill Gates and Paul Allen collaborated to found Microsoft (initially called Micro-Soft) in 1975. In the beginning they adapted BASIC, a popular programming language for use on microcomputers. It proved to be a success and they continued to develop programming language software for various systems.

In 1980, the duo was approached by International Business Machine (IBM) with a proposal that Microsoft write the BASIC interpreter for IBM’s upcoming personal computer, the IBM PC. Microsoft created the PC DOS operating system which they delivered to IBM in exchange for a one-time fee of $50,000.

Soon Microsoft’s operating systems became very popular and the company introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985, as a graphical operating system shell for MS-DOS. Over the following years Windows came to dominate the world’s personal computer market acquiring over 90% market share. The company saw phenomenal financial success, and being the company’s largest individual shareholder, Bill Gates amassed a great fortune.

Microsoft introduced Microsoft Office in 1989. The package integrated several applications like Microsoft Word and Excel into one system that was compatible with all Microsoft products. The success of MS Office gave Microsoft a virtual monopoly on operating systems for PCs.

In the mid 1990s when the use of the internet spread throughout the globe at an alarming speed, Gates focused Microsoft on the development of consumer and enterprise software solutions for the Internet. Windows CE operating system platform and the Microsoft Network were among the innovative solutions developed during this time.

In January 2000, Gates stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft though he retained his position as chairman. He created the new position of Chief Software Architect for himself. Over the next few years he gradually transferred his duties to others at Microsoft and started spending more time in philanthropic works. He stepped down as Chairman of Microsoft in February 2014, and currently serves as technology advisor to support CEO Satya Nadella.

Major Works

Bill Gates is best known as the co-founder of Microsoft, the multinational technology company which is today considered one of the world's most valuable companies. It is the world's largest software maker measured by revenues

Awards & Achievements

In 2002, Bill and Melinda Gates received the Jefferson Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged.

Gates received the Bower Award for Business Leadership from The Franklin Institute in 2010 in recognition of his achievements at Microsoft and his philanthropic work.

Bill and Melinda Gates jointly received India's third highest civilian honor Padma Bhushan in 2015 for their foundation's philanthropic activities in India.

Quick Facts

Also Known As: William Henry Gates III

Age: 66 Years, 66 Year Old Males

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Melinda Gates (M. 1994; Div. 2021)

Father: William H. Gates Sr.

Mother: Mary Maxwell Gates

Siblings: Kristi Gates, Libby Gates

Children: Jennifer Katharine Gates, Phoebe Adele Gates, Rory John Gates

Born Country: United States

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Ancestry: German American, British American

Personality: INTP

City: Seattle, Washington

U.S. State: Washington

Founder/Co-Founder: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft Corporation, Corbis, BgC3, Cascade Investment, Microsoft Research, The Global Fund To Fight AIDS,

Tuberculosis and Malaria

Additional Facts

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Childhood and Adolescent Health

Born William Henry “Bill” Gates III on October 28, 1955, the son of William H. Gates, Sr. and Mary Maxwell Gates. His father was a prominent lawyer while his mother served on the board of directors of First Interstate BancSystem and United Way. He has two sisters.

He attended Lakeside School where he became interested in computer science. He was only 13 when he wrote his first software program on a school computer and while in high school he, along with some of his friends, then used a computer to pay for their school.

His business partner, Paul Allen, was an official at Lakeside. When he was 17 years old, Gates teamed up with Allen to build a business called Traf-O-Data, to do traffic calculations based on an Intel 8008 processor.

He graduated from high school in 1973. He was a National Merit Scholar and earned 1590 of the 1600 points in the SAT. He enrolled at Harvard College later that year. While in college he spent a lot of time on computers even though he had little interest in learning other subjects. His friend Allen suggested that Bill leave college to start a business.

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