Bill Gates is an
entrepreneur and businessman, born October 28, 1955. He and his partner Paul
Allen founded and built the world's largest software company, Microsoft,
through technological innovation, keen business strategy, and also aggressive
commercial tactics.
Gates became one of
the richest men in the world. A lot of interesting things have been said about
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Early life of Bill Gates
Great Bill Gates was born in Seattle,
Washington on October 28, 1955. He is the son of William H. Gates Sr. 1925 and
Mary Maxwell Gates (1929-1994).
His father was a
prominent lawyer and his mother served on the board of directors of First
Interstate BancSystem and the United Way.
Bill Gates' maternal
grandfather was JW Maxwell, who was the president of a national bank. Bill
Gates has an older sister, Kristi (Kristianne), and a younger sister, Libby.
Bill Gates is also
known as William Gates III or "Trey." His family lived in the Sand
Point area of Seattle in a house that was once damaged by a rare tornado when
Gates was nine years old.
In his early days,
Bill Gates observed that his parents wanted him to pursue a career in law. When
Gates was still young, his family regularly attended a church of the
Congregational Christian Churches, a Reformed Protestant denomination.
Bill Gates: Education
Bill Gates was a
voracious reader as a child; He spent many hours poring over reference books
like the encyclopedia.
When Bill was 13 years
old, he was enrolled in Seattle's exclusive Lakeside School. He excelled in
almost all of his subjects; he excelled in math and science, but also did very
well in theater and English.
While Gates was
studying at Lakeside, a Seattle computer store offered to provide computer time
for students. The Mother's Club used the proceeds from the school rummage sale
to purchase a teletype terminal for all students to use.
Bill Gates became
engrossed in what a computer could do and spent much of his spare time working
on the terminal.
Gates wrote a
tic-tac-toe program in a computer language that allowed users to play against
the computer. Gates graduated from Lakeside in 1973.
Gates enrolled at
Harvard University in 1973, previously thinking of a career in law. But in his
freshman year, he spent more time in the computer lab than in class.
To his parents'
dismay, within two years, Gates had dropped out of college in 1975 to pursue
his business, Microsoft, with partner Paul Allen.
Bill Gates' family life, wife and
children
In 1987, at the age of
32, Gates fell in love with a 23-year-old Microsoft product manager named
Melinda French.
Melinda was a perfect
match for Gates. Over time, their relationship grew as they discovered an
intimate and intellectual connection. On January 1, 1994, Melinda and Bill got
married in Hawaii.
Due to the devastating
death of their mother from breast cancer just months after their wedding, Bill
and Melinda Gates took time off in 1995 to travel and gain a new perspective on
life and the world.
In the year 1996, they
had their first daughter, Jennifer. Their son, Rory, was born in 1999, and a
second daughter, Phoebe, arrived in 2002.
Bill Gates career
In 1975, Bill Gates
and Paul Allen formed Microsoft, a mix of "microcomputer" and
"software."
Initially, the company
started in a shaky position, in the year 1979 Microsoft raised approximately
$2.5 million. Gates was placed as head of the establishment. With his software
development acumen and keen business sense, Gates led the company and served as
its spokesperson.
After developing
software for IBM, between 1979 and 1981, Microsoft's growth skyrocketed.
Staff increased from
25 to 128, and revenue skyrocketed from $2.5 million to $16 million. In
mid-1981, Bill Gates and Allen incorporated Microsoft, and Gates was named
president and chairman of the board. Allen became the executive vice president.
Bill Gates Net Worth
Bill Gates, who is
known to be the second richest person in the world, has an estimated net worth
of $102.3 billion as of December 2022.
Gates primarily spends
his billions on charity through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, also
planning to give away most of his fortune.
Gates has some
indulgences like a $125 million worth of Washington estate, a private jet, and
also a collection of luxury cars that make up just a fraction of his massive
fortune.
Gates and his wife have also pledged to donate the bulk of their fortune through the Giving Pledge, which they launched in 2010.