Bill Gates is a technology entrepreneur and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft, the world’s largest personal computer software company, in 1975, and helped make it the dominant player in the personal computer operating system market. He is also the founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which works to improve global health and reduce poverty.
What is bill gates known for?
Bill Gates is known for co-founding Microsoft and helping to make it the world’s largest personal computer software company. He is also known for playing a key role in the development of the personal computer and popularizing the use of computers in everyday life. In addition, he is known for his philanthropy, particularly through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which focuses on global health and development, as well as education and poverty reduction. He is also known for being one of the wealthiest people in the world, and for using his wealth to support various charitable causes.
Bill gates family
Bill Gates is married to Melinda Gates and they have three children together: Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe. Bill and Melinda Gates, together with their foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, work to improve global health and reduce poverty. They also support education and other initiatives aimed at improving the lives of people around the world. Bill’s father, William H. Gates Sr., is a retired attorney and philanthropist and his mother, Mary Maxwell Gates, was a schoolteacher, the University of Washington Regent, and chairwoman of United Way International.
Bill gates net worth
As of 2021, Bill Gates’s net worth is estimated to be around $130 billion. He is considered one of the wealthiest people in the world. Much of his wealth comes from his time as the CEO and chairman of Microsoft, which he co-founded in 1975. He has also made significant investments in other companies and has a diverse portfolio of assets. Gates has also given away a significant portion of his wealth to charity through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which he founded with his wife.
Bill gates facts
- Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft in 1975, which became the world’s largest personal-computer software company.
- He played a key role in the development of the personal computer and popularized the use of computers in everyday life.
- Gates is one of the wealthiest people in the world and has a net worth of around $130 billion.
- He and his wife, Melinda, founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which works to improve global health and reduce poverty.
- Gates stepped down as the chairman of Microsoft in 2014 to focus on philanthropy and other endeavors.
- He is a technology advisor to several companies and organizations, including Berkshire Hathaway.
- He is a co-chair of the Breakthrough Energy Coalition, a group of investors and business leaders working to promote clean energy.
- Gates has been listed among the most influential people by Time magazine several times.
- Gates was arrested for reckless driving in 1975
- He and Melinda Gates announced in 2010 that they would give away the majority of their wealth to charity over time
Bill gates childhood
Bill Gates had a privileged childhood. He was born to William H. Gates Sr., a successful attorney, and Mary Maxwell Gates, a schoolteacher and the University of Washington Regent. He grew up in Seattle, Washington, and attended a private school called Lakeside School, where he developed an early interest in computers.
At Lakeside, he and a group of friends formed a computer club and hacked into the computer of a large company to steal computer time. He was caught and the school was forced to pay the company $3,000.
Gates excelled academically and was a National Merit Scholar. He was also a voracious reader, with a particular interest in science fiction and technology. He was said to be quite competitive, both in sports and academically.
He enrolled at Harvard College in 1973 but left after two years to start Microsoft with his childhood friend Paul Allen
Bill gates education
Bill Gates received his primary and secondary education at the Lakeside School, a private school in Seattle, Washington. He excelled academically and was a National Merit Scholar. During his time at Lakeside, he and a group of friends formed a computer club and had access to a computer terminal. That’s where he developed an early interest in computers and programming.
After completing high school, Gates enrolled at Harvard College in 1973, where he studied pre-law and computer science. He attended Harvard for two years before dropping out in 1975 to pursue his business venture, Microsoft, with his childhood friend Paul Allen.
Although he dropped out of college, Gates is a big believer in the importance of education, and his foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has invested in various initiatives aimed at improving education around the world. He also believes that technology can play a big role in education and has been an advocate for using technology to improve the classroom experience.
Bill gates success story
Bill Gates’ success story is one of entrepreneurship, innovation, and perseverance.
In 1975, at the age of 20, Gates co-founded Microsoft with his childhood friend Paul Allen. At the time, personal computers were not yet a common household item and Microsoft’s first product was a programming language called Basic. They quickly realized that in order for personal computers to be successful, they needed a user-friendly operating system. They licensed a version of an existing operating system called DOS to IBM, and this would become the foundation of Microsoft’s success.
Over the next few years, Microsoft developed and released several successful software products, including the MS-DOS operating system, the Microsoft Windows operating system, and the Microsoft Office Suite. These products helped make Microsoft the dominant player in the personal computer software market.
Gates served as the CEO and chairman of Microsoft for many years and helped guide the company through several major technological transitions, such as the shift from DOS to Windows. He also played a key role in popularizing the use of computers in everyday life.
In 2000, Gates stepped down as the CEO of Microsoft, but he remained chairman of the company until 2014. He then transitioned to focus on philanthropy, through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which he founded with his wife in 2000.
Gates’ story is a testament to the power of innovation, hard work, and perseverance. He started Microsoft with a vision of putting a computer in every household and he succeeded in making that vision a reality. He also demonstrated that with wealth and success, one can make a difference in the world through philanthropy.
What does bill gates own?
- Shares in Microsoft: Gates co-founded Microsoft in 1975 and he still owns shares in the company, which is one of the world’s largest technology companies.
- Investment in other companies: Gates has made investments in various other companies, such as Berkshire Hathaway, the investment holding company led by Warren Buffett, and Canadian National Railway.
- Real estate: He owns several properties, including a mansion in Medina, Washington that is valued at over $120 million.
- Art collection: Gates is an art collector and owns several pieces of art, including works by contemporary artists such as Jeff Koons and David Hockney.
- Philanthropic ventures: Together with his wife Melinda, he owns and runs the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is one of the largest private foundations in the world and focuses on improving global health and reducing poverty.
- Private equity: He also has a venture capital fund, Cascade Investment, which has invested in various companies like AutoNation, Canadian National Railway, and Ecolab.
How did bill gates start Microsoft?
Bill Gates and Paul Allen, his childhood friend, co-founded Microsoft in 1975. The story of how they started Microsoft begins in the early 1970s when Gates and Allen were both in their teens and had access to a computer terminal at their high school, Lakeside School. They became fascinated with computers and programming, and they formed a computer club with a few other students.
In 1972, Gates and Allen wrote their first computer program, a version of Tic-Tac-Toe that they sold to a local computer company for $4,200. This was the first time they realized that they could make money with their computer skills.
After Gates graduated from high school in 1973, he enrolled at Harvard College, where he studied pre-law and computer science. Allen, who had dropped out of college, was working at Honeywell in Boston. In 1975, Allen saw an article in Popular Electronics about the Altair 8800, one of the first personal computers. He showed the article to Gates, who was still in college, and they both realized that this was the future of computing.
They decided to create software that would run on the Altair 8800, which was called Basic. They licensed the software to MITS, the company that made the Altair 8800 and received a payment of $21,000. This was the first software that Microsoft sold.
Gates dropped out of Harvard in 1975 to start Microsoft with Allen. They worked out of a garage in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and began selling their Basic software to other computer companies. In 1976, they moved the company to Bellevue, Washington, and released an improved version of Basic for the Apple II computer. This proved to be a successful product, and it helped establish Microsoft as a major player in the personal computer software market.