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William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington, U.S.) is a businessman, investor, philanthropist, and author, renowned for co-founding Microsoft. He played a pivotal role in the microcomputer revolution during the 1970s and 1980s. He is worth $130 Billion as on 29 March, 2024.
Career and Microsoft
Bill Gates' career began at an early age, driven by a passion for computers and programming. Gates was fascinated by technology from a young age. His interest deepened in high school when he and his friend, Paul Allen, gained access to a Teletype Model 33 ASR terminal and a General Electric (GE) computer. They quickly became adept at programming, and by the age of 13, Gates had written his first computer program.
In 1973, Gates enrolled at Harvard University, where he pursued his studies but remained deeply engrossed in computing. During his time at Harvard, Gates and Allen saw an article about the Altair 8800 mini-computer kit in Popular Electronics magazine. Recognizing the potential of this new technology, they contacted the manufacturer, MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems), and told them that they were developing a BASIC interpreter for the Altair. In truth, Gates and Allen did not possess an Altair nor had they written any code for it; they were simply trying to assess MITS's interest.
MITS president Ed Roberts agreed to a demonstration. Over a few weeks, Gates and Allen developed an Altair emulator for a minicomputer and then created the BASIC interpreter. The successful demonstration at MITS's offices in Albuquerque, New Mexico, led to a deal for distributing the interpreter as Altair BASIC.
The success of this project led Gates to drop out of Harvard in 1975, and along with Allen, he moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where MITS was based. There, they founded Microsoft, initially spelled "Micro-Soft," a blend of "microcomputer" and "software." Microsoft's breakthrough came in 1980 when IBM approached them to provide an operating system for its first personal computer.
Gates and Allen acquired a small operating system called 86-DOS, modified it, and presented it as PC-DOS to IBM for a one-time fee of $50,000. This Operating System became the backbone of IBM PCs and set the standard for the industry.
While the contract itself brought in a modest sum, the prestige from IBM's adoption of their operating system marked the beginning of Microsoft's evolution from a small business to the world's leading software company. The sales of MS-DOS, the version of DOS marketed to customers beyond IBM, established Microsoft as a significant force in the industry, which is true even today.
Since leaving day-to-day operations at Microsoft, Gates has continued his philanthropy and works on other projects.
Personal Life
An avid reader, the ceiling of his large home library is engraved with a quotation from The Great Gatsby. Gates' schedule is meticulously managed, akin to the U.S. president's agenda, with each minute accounted for. Despite his affluent status and frequent business trips, Gates opted for economy class on commercial flights until 1997, when he bought a private jet.
Bill Gates met Melinda French in 1987 when Melinda joined Microsoft. Both then married on January 1, 1994. Bill and Melinda are parents to three children: Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe.
In May 2021, Bill and Melinda Gates took to Twitter to declare the end of their 27-year marriage, spanning 34 years together as a couple.
Interesting Facts
To date, Gates has donated more than $59 billion to the Gates Foundation, including a $20 billion gift announced in July 2022. Most of his early donations were gifts of Microsoft stock.
When Gates was a kid, he spent so much time reading that his parents finally forbade him from bringing books to the dinner table.
Bill and Melinda Gates stated that they intend to leave each of their children only $10 million each. With only $30 million kept in the family, they are expected to give away about 99.96% of their wealth.
On December 9, 2010, Bill and Melinda Gates, along with investor Warren Buffett, signed the "Giving Pledge," committing each of them to donate at least half of their wealth to charitable causes over time.
Gates has authored four books: The Road Ahead, Business @ the Speed of Thought, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, How to Prevent the Next Pandemic.
In 1994, Gates bought the Codex Leicester, a compilation of Leonardo da Vinci's scientific writings, for $30.8 million at an auction. In 1998, he reportedly set a record for the highest price paid for an American painting by purchasing the original 1885 maritime artwork "Lost on the Grand Banks" for $30 million.
In 2016, he disclosed that he is color-blind.
Bill Gates was the first person to ever reach $100 Billion.
According to Forbes, Gates was ranked as the fourth most powerful person in the world in 2012.
In 2016, Barack Obama honored Bill and Melinda Gates with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for their philanthropic efforts.
He used to memorize the license plates of his employees at Microsoft so he could look out in the parking lot and see when did people come in when were they leaving.