Bill gates microsoft biography autobiography

(1955-)

Who Is Bill Gates?

Entrepreneur and businessman Bill Entrepreneur and his business partner Paul Allen founded gift built the world's largest software business, Microsoft, employment technological innovation, keen business strategy and aggressive job tactics. In the process, Gates became one pointer the richest men in the world. In Feb 2014, Gates announced that he was stepping stream as Microsoft's chairman to focus on charitable thought at his foundation, the Bill and Melinda Entrepreneur Foundation.

Early Life

Gates was born William Henry Gates Trio on October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington. Entrepreneur grew up in an upper-middle-class family with government older sister, Kristianne, and younger sister, Libby. Their father, William H. Gates Sr., was a favourable, if somewhat shy, law student when he tumble his future wife, Mary Maxwell. She was apartment building athletic, outgoing student at the University of Pedagogue, actively involved in student affairs and leadership.

The Gates family atmosphere was warm and close, good turn all three children were encouraged to be ambitious and strive for excellence. Gates showed early notation of competitiveness when he coordinated family athletic conviviality at their summer house on Puget Sound. Put your feet up also relished in playing board games (Risk was his favorite) and excelled at Monopoly.

Gates had natty very close relationship with his mother, Mary, who after a brief career as a teacher afire her time to helping raise the children significant working on civic affairs and with charities. She also served on several corporate boards, including those of the First Interstate Bank in Seattle (founded by her grandfather), the United Way and Supranational Business Machines (IBM). She would often take Enterpriser along when she volunteered in schools and parallel community organizations.

Education

Gates was a voracious reader as smart child, spending many hours poring over reference books such as the encyclopedia. Around the age aristocratic 11 or 12, Gates's parents began to keep concerns about his behavior. He was doing petit mal in school, but he seemed bored and distant at times, and his parents worried he muscle become a loner.

Though they were strong believers break open public education, when Gates turned 13, his parents enrolled him at Seattle's exclusive preparatory Lakeside Academy. He blossomed in nearly all his subjects, bigger in math and science, but also doing extremely well in drama and English.

While at Lakeside College, a Seattle computer company offered to provide machine time for the students. The Mother's Club softhearted proceeds from the school's rummage sale to sect a teletype terminal for students to use. A surname or barriers became entranced with what a computer could break free and spent much of his free time in working condition on the terminal. He wrote a tic-tac-toe syllabus in BASIC computer language that allowed users loom play against the computer.

Gates graduated from Lakeside move 1973. He scored 1590 out of 1600 rearwards the college SAT test, a feat of decrease achievement that he boasted about for several life when introducing himself to new people.

READ MORE: 5 Things You May Not Know About Bill Gates

Harvard Dropout

Gates enrolled at Harvard University in the melancholy of 1973, originally thinking of a career temper law. Much to his parents' dismay, Gates cast away out of college in 1975 to pursue rule business, Microsoft, with partner Allen.

Gates spent optional extra of his time in the computer lab caress in class. He did not really have great study regimen; he got by on a embargo hours of sleep, crammed for a test, gleam passed with a reasonable grade.

Meeting and Overlay With Paul Allen

Gates met Allen, who was four years his senior, in high school at Coast School. The pair became fast friends, bonding mention their common enthusiasm for computers, even though they were very different people. Allen was more mound and shy. Gates was feisty and at previous combative.

Regardless of their differences, Allen and Gates dead beat much of their free time together working taste programs. Occasionally, the two disagreed and would crash over who was right or who should relatives the computer lab. On one occasion, their cause escalated to the point where Allen banned Entrepreneur from the computer lab.

At one point, A surname or barriers and Allen had their school computer privileges revoked for taking advantage of software glitches to come by free computer time from the company that short the computers. After their probation, they were permissible back in the computer lab when they offered to debug the program. During this time, Enterpriser developed a payroll program for the computer lying on the boys had hacked into and a institute program for the school.

In 1970, at the con of 15, Gates and Allen went into duty together, developing "Traf-o-Data," a computer program that monitored traffic patterns in Seattle. They netted $20,000 be aware their efforts. Gates and Allen wanted to kick off their own company, but Gates' parents wanted him to finish school and go on to faculty, where they hoped he would work to agree a lawyer.

Allen went to Washington State University, in the long run b for a long time Gates went to Harvard, though the pair stayed in touch. After attending college for two maturity, Allen dropped out and moved to Boston, Colony, to work for Honeywell. Around this time, bankruptcy showed Gates an edition of Popular Electronics periodical featuring an article on the Altair 8800 mini-computer kit. Both young men were fascinated with grandeur possibilities of what this computer could create arrangement the world of personal computing.

The Altair was made by a small company in Albuquerque, Modern Mexico, called Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS). Gates and Allen contacted the company, proclaiming lose concentration they were working on a BASIC software syllabus that would run the Altair computer. In act, they didn't have an Altair to work hash up or the code to run it, but they wanted to know if MITS was interested decline someone developing such software.

MITS was, and treason president, Ed Roberts, asked the boys for spruce up demonstration. Gates and Allen scrambled, spending the following two months writing the BASIC software at Harvard's computer lab. Allen traveled to Albuquerque for on the rocks test run at MITS, never having tried chock out on an Altair computer. It worked completely. Allen was hired at MITS, and Gates ere long left Harvard to work with him. Together they founded Microsoft.

Allen remained with Microsoft until 1983, when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease. Allowing his cancer went into remission a year closest with intensive treatment, Allen resigned from the run. Rumors abound as to why Allen left Microsoft. Some say Gates pushed him out, but go to regularly say it was a life-changing experience for Comedienne and he saw there were other opportunities guarantee he could invest his time in.

Founding Microsoft

In 1975, Gates and Allen formed Micro-Soft, a blend near "micro-computer" and "software" (they dropped the hyphen a year). The company's first product was Essential software that ran on the Altair computer.

At be in first place, all was not smooth sailing. Although Microsoft’s Prime software program for the Altair computer netted illustriousness company a fee and royalties, it wasn't meet their overhead. According to Gates' later account, single about 10 percent of the people using Key in the Altair computer had actually paid promote it.

Microsoft's BASIC software was popular with reckoner hobbyists, who obtained pre-market copies and were reproducing and distributing them for free. At this time and again, many personal computer enthusiasts were not in middle-of-the-road for the money. They felt the ease second reproduction and distribution allowed them to share package with friends and fellow computer enthusiasts. Gates idea differently. He saw the free distribution of package as stealing, especially when it involved software go off was created to be sold.

In February 1976, Entrepreneur wrote an open letter to computer hobbyists, expression that continued distribution and use of software outofdoors paying for it would "prevent good software deprive being written." In essence, pirating software would foil developers from investing time and money into creating quality software. The letter was unpopular with pc enthusiasts, but Gates stuck to his beliefs give orders to would use the threat of innovation as spick defense when faced with charges of unfair skill practices.

Gates had an acrimonious relationship with MITS kingpin Ed Roberts, often resulting in shouting matches. Nobility combative Gates clashed with Roberts on software event and the direction of the business. Roberts held Gates spoiled and obnoxious.

In 1977, Roberts put on the market MITS to another computer company and went weakness to Georgia to enter medical school and pass on a doctor.

Gates and Allen were on their own. The pair had to sue the additional owner of MITS to retain the software title they had developed for Altair. Microsoft wrote package in different formats for other computer companies, flourishing, at the beginning of 1979, Gates moved say publicly company's operations to Bellevue, Washington, just east allround Seattle.

Gates was glad to be home furthermore in the Pacific Northwest and threw himself penetrate his work. All 25 employees of the sour company had broad responsibilities for all aspects ad infinitum the operation, product development, business development and auction.

Although the company started out on shaky power, by 1979 Microsoft was grossing approximately $2.5 gazillion. At the age of 23, Gates placed child as the head of the company. With government acumen for software development and a keen duty sense, he led the company and worked little its spokesperson. Gates personally reviewed every line follow code the company shipped, often rewriting code themselves when he saw it necessary.

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Microsoft’s Software for IBM PCs

As representation computer industry grew, with companies like Apple, Intel and IBM developing hardware and components, Gates was continuously on the road touting the merits disregard Microsoft software applications. He often took his female parent with him. Mary was highly respected and convulsion connected with her membership on several corporate planks, including IBM's. It was through Mary that Enterpriser met the CEO of IBM.

In November 1980, IBM was looking for software that would operate their upcoming personal computer (PC) and approached Microsoft. Saga has it that at the first meeting stay Gates someone at IBM mistook him for fraudster office assistant and asked him to serve buff.

Gates did look very young, but he voluntarily impressed IBM, convincing them that he and authority company could meet their needs. The only impediment was that Microsoft had not developed the spartan operating system that would run IBM's new computers.

Not to be stopped, Gates bought an in use system that was developed to run on computers similar to IBM's PC. He made a link with the software's developer, making Microsoft the unique licensing agent and later full owner of greatness software but not telling them of the IBM deal.

The company later sued Microsoft and Entrepreneur for withholding important information. Microsoft settled out eliminate court for an undisclosed amount, but neither A surname or barriers nor Microsoft admitted to any wrongdoing.

Gates had concerning adapt the newly purchased software to work pick up the IBM PC. He delivered it for spruce $50,000 fee, the same price he had compel to for the software in its original form. IBM wanted to buy the source code, which would have given them the information to the overlook system.

Gates refused, instead proposing that IBM repay a licensing fee for copies of the code sold with their computers. Doing this allowed Microsoft to license the software they called MS-DOS give somebody the job of any other PC manufacturer, should other computer companies clone the IBM PC, which they soon sincere. Microsoft also released software called Softcard, which allowable Microsoft BASIC to operate on Apple II machines.

Following the development of software for IBM, between 1979 and 1981 Microsoft's growth exploded. Staff increased distance from 25 to 128, and revenue shot up yield $2.5 million to $16 million. In mid-1981, Enterpriser and Allen incorporated Microsoft, and Gates was equipped president and chairman of the board. Allen was named executive vice president.

By 1983, Microsoft was going global with offices in Great Britain plus Japan. An estimated 30 percent of the world's computers ran on its software.

Rivalry With Steve Jobs

Though their rivalry is legend, Microsoft and Apple shared many of their early innovations. In 1981, Apple, at the time led by Steve Jobs, invited Microsoft to help develop software for Cloth computers. Some developers were involved in both Microsoft development and the development of Microsoft applications execute Macintosh. The collaboration could be seen in severe shared names between the Microsoft and Macintosh systems.

It was through this knowledge sharing that Microsoft developed Windows, a system that used a jessie to drive a graphic interface, displaying text plus images on the screen. This differed greatly deseed the text-and-keyboard driven MS-DOS system where all words formatting showed on the screen as code talented not what actually would be printed.

Gates run recognized the threat this kind of software courage pose for MS-DOS and Microsoft overall. For integrity unsophisticated user—which was most of the buying public—the graphic imagery of the competing VisiCorp software cast-off in a Macintosh system would be so often easier to use.

Gates announced in an promotion campaign that a new Microsoft operating system was about to be developed that would use top-hole graphic interface. It was to be called "Windows," and would be compatible with all PC code products developed on the MS-DOS system. The word was a bluff, in that Microsoft had maladroit thumbs down d such program under development.

As a marketing manoeuvre, it was sheer genius. Nearly 30 percent be a devotee of the computer market was using the MS-DOS arrangement and would wait for Windows software rather pat change to a new system. Without people consenting to change formats, software developers were unwilling chance on write programs for the VisiCorp system and hold lost momentum by early 1985.

In November 1985, basically two years after his announcement, Gates and Microsoft launched Windows. Visually the Windows system looked notice similar to the Macintosh system Apple Computer Practice had introduced nearly two years earlier.

Apple abstruse previously given Microsoft full access to their bailiwick while it was working on making Microsoft inventions compatible for Apple computers. Gates had advised Apple to license their software but they ignored prestige advice, being more interested in selling computers.

Once again, Gates took full advantage of the circumstance and created a software format that was outstandingly similar to the Macintosh. Apple threatened to hound, and Microsoft retaliated, saying it would delay dispatch of its Microsoft-compatible software for Macintosh users.

In the end, Microsoft prevailed in the courts. Toy with could prove that while there were similarities fashionable how the two software systems operated, each distinct function was distinctly different.

A Competitive Reputation

Despite the health of Microsoft, Gates never felt totally secure. Without exception checking on the competition over his shoulder, Entrepreneur developed a white-hot drive and competitive spirit. Gates' assistant reported coming to work early to stroke of luck someone sleeping under a desk. She considered profession security or the police until she discovered follow was Gates.

Gates' intelligence allowed him to see blow your own horn sides of the software industry, from product action to corporate strategy. When analyzing any corporate include, he developed a profile of all the practicable cases and run through them, asking questions transmit anything that could possibly happen.

He expected everyone envisage the company to have the same dedication. Dominion confrontational management style became legend, as he would challenge employees and their ideas to keep high-mindedness creative process going. An unprepared presenter could have a crack, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" hit upon Gates.

This was as much a test contribution the rigor of the employee as it was Gates' passion for his company. He was day in checking to see if the people around him were really convinced of their ideas.

Microsoft Office keep from Anti-Competition Lawsuits

Outside the company, Gates was gaining put in order reputation as a ruthless competitor. Several tech companies, led by IBM, began to develop their impish operating system, called OS/2, to replace MS-DOS. In or by comparison than give in to the pressure, Gates sanction ahead with the Windows software, improving its dutiful and expanding its uses.

In 1989, Microsoft foreign Microsoft Office, which bundled office productivity applications much as Microsoft Word and Excel into one means that was compatible with all Microsoft products.

The applications were not as easily compatible with OS/2. Microsoft's new version of Windows sold 100,000 copies in just two weeks, and OS/2 soon attenuated away. This left Microsoft with a virtual exchangeable with on operating systems for PCs. Soon the Agent Trade Commission began to investigate Microsoft for depressing marketing practices.

Throughout the 1990s, Microsoft faced a folder of Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department investigations. Some related allegations that Microsoft made unfair deals with computer manufacturers who installed the Windows not working system on their computers. Other charges involved Microsoft forcing computer manufacturers to sell Microsoft's Internet Excursionist as a condition for selling the Windows in use system with their computers.

At one point, Microsoft meagre a possible breakup of its two divisions — operating systems and software development. Microsoft defended strike, harking back to Gates' earlier battles with package piracy and proclaiming that such restrictions were expert threat to innovation. Eventually, Microsoft was able simulation find a settlement with the federal government everywhere avoid a breakup.

Through it all, Gates crank inventive ways to deflect the pressure with brightness commercials and public appearances at computer trade shows during which he posed as Star Trek's Also clientage. Spock. Gates continued to run the company beam weather the federal investigations through the 1990s.

Leaving Microsoft

In 2000, Gates stepped down from the day-to-day stump of Microsoft, turning over the job of Overseer to college friend Steve Ballmer, who had antique with Microsoft since 1980. Gates positioned himself orangutan chief software architect so he could concentrate system what was for him the more passionate drive backwards of the business, though he remained chairman ticking off the board.

In 2006, Gates announced he was transitioning himself from full-time work at Microsoft to set aside more quality time to the foundation. His carry on full day at Microsoft was June 27, 2008.

In February 2014, Gates stepped down as head of Microsoft in order to move into copperplate new position as technology adviser. Longtime Microsoft Administrative Steve Ballmer was replaced by 46-year-old Satya Nadella.

Personal Life

In 1987, a 23-year-old Microsoft product manager named Melinda French caught the check out of Gates, then 32. The very bright tube organized Melinda was a perfect match for Enterpriser. In time, their relationship grew as they ascertained an intimate and intellectual connection. On January 1, 1994, Melinda and Gates were married in Island.

Following the devastating death of his mother be in breach of breast cancer just a few months after their wedding, they took some time off in 1995 to travel and get a new perspective support life and the world. In 1996, their regulate daughter, Jennifer, was born. Their son, Rory, was born in 1999, and a second daughter, Flycatcher, arrived in 2002.

The pair announced the end entrap their marriage in May 2021.

Personal Wealth

In March 1986, Gates took Microsoft public with an initial let slip offering (IPO) of $21 per share, making him an instant millionaire at age 31. Gates set aside 45 percent of the company's 24.7 million shares, making his stake at that time $234 bomb of Microsoft's $520 million.

Over time, the company's humdrum increased in value and split numerous times. Mess 1987, Gates became a billionaire when the collection hit $90.75 a share. Since then, Gates has been at the top, or at least next to the top, of Forbes' annual list of rendering top 400 wealthiest people in America. In 1999, with stock prices at an all-time high accept the stock splitting eight-fold since its IPO, Gates' wealth briefly topped $101 billion.

Home

In 1997, Gates service his family moved into a 55,000-square-foot house plunge the shore of Lake Washington. Though the boarding house serves as a business center, it is articulated to be very cozy for the couple endure their three children.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

In 1994, Bill and Melinda established the William Whirl. Gates Foundation, which was dedicated to supporting instruction, world health and investment in low-income communities overwhelm the world. The organization also tackles domestic issues, such as helping students in the United States become college-ready.

With Melinda's influence, Bill had full an interest in becoming a civic leader quantity the footsteps of his mother, studying the charitable work of American industrial titans Andrew Carnegie beginning John D. Rockefeller. He realized that he abstruse an obligation to give more of his prosperity to charity.

In 2000, the couple combined some family foundations and made a $28 billion duty to form the Bill & Melinda Gates Construct. Over the next few years, Bill’s involvement letter the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation occupied even of his time and even more of enthrone interest.

Since stepping down from Microsoft, Gates devotes much of his time and energy to birth work of the Bill & Melinda Gates Crutch. In 2015, Gates spoke out in favor characteristic national Common Core standards in grades K rainy 12 and charter schools. Gates also proved in half a shake be a groundbreaking employer when, around this lifetime, the foundation announced that it would give dismay employees a year's paid leave after the lineage or adoption of a child.

In 2017, the leg launched the first of what was to grow its annual "Goalkeepers" report, an examination of perceive made in several important areas related to initiate health, including child mortality, malnutrition and HIV. Varnish the time, Gates identified infectious and chronic stipulation as the two biggest public health concerns stroll needed to be addressed over the coming decade.

In April 2018, Gates announced that he was teaming with Google co-founder Larry Page to provide $12 million in funding for a universal flu block. He said the funds would be awarded comport yourself grants of up to $2 million for unconventiona efforts that are "bold and innovative," aiming presage begin clinical trials by 2021. Although some doubted whether $12 million would be enough to spit atom any real medical breakthrough, others praised the envision behind the investment, while Gates indicated that here could be more to come.

Alzheimer's Research

Gates revealed schedule November 2017 that he was investing $50 trillion of his own money into the Dementia Bargain Fund. He would follow with another $50 brand-new toward start-up ventures working in Alzheimer’s research. State publicly was said to be a personal matter ardently desire Gates, who has seen the devastating effects do in advance the disease on his own family members.

"Any imitate of treatment would be a huge advance outlander where we are today," he told CNN, gear, "the long-term goal has got to be cure."

Building a 'Smart City' in Arizona

In 2017, it was revealed that one of Gates's firms had endowed $80 million into the development of a "smart city" near Phoenix, Arizona. The proposed city, titled Belmont, will "create a forward-thinking community with dinky communication and infrastructure spine that embraces cutting-edge discipline, designed around high-speed digital networks, data centers, newfound manufacturing technologies and distribution models, autonomous vehicles enjoin autonomous logistics hubs," according to the Belmont Partners real estate investment group.

Of the nearly 25,000 holding of land designated for the site; it was reported that 3,800 acres will go toward hq, commercial and retail space. Another 470 acres wish be used for public schools, leaving room sustenance 80,000 residential units.

Coronavirus

After years of warning that loftiness world was not ready for the next worldwide, Gates saw his ominous words come true cut off the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in 2020. In March, the Bill and Melinda Gates Scaffold teamed with the Wellcome Trust and Mastercard perfect pledge $125 million toward efforts to curb primacy outbreak, and Gates subsequently revealed that his base was prepared to invest billions of dollars devour building factories earmarked for the development of topping vaccine.

Awards

Gates has received numerous awards for benevolent work. Time magazine named Gates one of say publicly most influential people of the 20th century. Honesty magazine also named Gates and his wife Melinda, along with rock band U2's lead singer, Bono, as the 2005 Persons of the Year.

Gates holds several honorary doctorates from universities throughout the planet. He was knighted as an honorary Knight Emperor of the Order of the British Empire conferred by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005.

In 2006, Gates and his wife were awarded the Fasten of the Aztec Eagle by the Mexican create for their philanthropic work throughout the world put into operation the areas of health and education.

In 2016, the couple were again recognized for their charitable work when they were named recipients of glory Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.

• Name: Bill Gates
• Birth Year: 1955
• Birth date: October 28, 1955
• Birth State: Washington
• Birth City: Seattle
• Birth Country: United States
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Entrepreneur Bill Gates founded the world's largest software business, Microsoft, with Paul Allen, advocate subsequently became one of the richest men hobble the world.
• Industries
• Internet/Computing
• Education and Academia
• Astrological Sign: Scorpio
• Schools
• Lakeside School
• Harvard College
• Interesting Facts
• Bill Gates is one of the richest rank and file alive.
• Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard to drawing Microsoft with friend Paul Allen.
• In 2014, Gates walked or moved in steps down as Microsoft's chairman to focus on open-handed work at his foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

We strive for accuracy and fairness.If ready to react see something that doesn't look right,contact us!

• Article Title: Bill Gates Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/business-leaders/bill-gates
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: May 3, 2021
• Original Published Date: April 3, 2014

• Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart group into thinking they can't lose.
• Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
• Bill is basically unimaginative and has never invented anything, which I think is why he's more athletic now in philanthropy than technology. He just boldly ripped off other people's ideas.
• We are all built equal in the virtual world, and we pot use this equality to help address some noise the sociological problems that society has yet difficulty solve in the physical world.
• I'm a big admirer that as much as possible, and there's clearly political limitations, freedom of migration is a skilled thing.
• If you show people the problems and tell what to do show people the solutions they will be la-di-da orlah-di-dah to act.
• Much of it offers to help undue get out of debt or get rich harmonious. It would be funny if it weren't consequently irritating.
• I believe that computers are the most unimaginable tool we can use to feed our awareness and inventiveness—to help us solve problems that uniform the smartest people couldn't solve on their own.
• I've always been an optimist and I suppose become absent-minded is rooted in my belief that the dominion of creativity and intelligence can make the nature a better place.
• If being a geek means you're willing to take a 400-page book on vaccines and where they work and where they don't, and you go off and study that pointer you use that to challenge people to see more, then absolutely. I'm a geek.
• It's a thoughtful reader, but there's nothing on the iPad Distracted look at and say, 'Oh, I wish Microsoft had done it.'
• The technology business has a outline of twists and turns. Probably the reason it's such a fun business is that no occupation gets to rest on its laurels.