Bill Gates
Founder of Microsoft
Bio
Born:October 28, 1955 in Seattle, Washington, United States
Occupation: Philanthropist/Founder of Microsoft
Bill Gates became the wealthiest man in the world and one of the most influential personalities in the ever-evolving information technology and computer industries. He has since stepped back from his role at Microsoft to focus on his role as a philanthropist.
Early Life
William Henry Gates III was born on October 28,1955 in Seattle, Washington. Bill was second child and only son leaving his big sister Kristi and younger sister Libby. Bills parents had a law career in mind for their son following his fathers footstep; but instead Bill found interest in computers at Lakeside school. His classmate Paul Allen had similar interests himself, Paul later became Bills business partner.Bill's experiences in computers included debugging or eliminating errors in computers from programs for the Computer Center Corporation PDP-10, he also helped to computerize electric power grids for the Bonneville Power Administration, and founded with his partner Paul Allen a firm called Traf-O-Data while still in high school, earning $20,000 in the process.
Getting Involved
In 1987 Gates revolutionized the world of computers promoting CD-ROM technology, which was an optical storage medium easily connected to a PC. The CD-ROM was able to store encyclopedias, feature films, and complex interactive games.
Choices & Results
In His/Her words
Bill Gates.
"It is fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure"
Bill Gates.
"As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others"
Bill Gates.
Aftermath
Bill Gate's success also brought many challenges. Microsoft was dominating the market; therefore , the US Department of Justice brought an anti-trust lawsuit against the company in 1998. Bill denied and sustained that Microsoft was part of any illegal practice. A US District Judge Thomas P. Jackson did not agree. In 1999 Microsoft was found to be a Monopoly not allowing other companies to compete. The battle in court was tedious. Gates agreed to share some information about Windows with other software developers and promised he would structure the the software to help the use of non-microsoft products.
in 2000 Gates handed over the day to day control of the business to Steve Ballmer, one of his Harvard classmates and close friends. Gates held the position of Chairman, that still allowed him to make contributions.
Words For Him
David Moschella wrote this about Bill Gates Wealth: "At various times, Gates has been underestimated, loved, admired, feared, hated and even deemed irrelevant. Now, it's time for him to find a new game. As it happens, the one he has chosen is enough to challenge both his and Billionaire businessman Warren Buffett's wallets."
Legacy
With all his intelligence and money, Bill gates showed the right path by becoming a philanthropist. The best thing he could do was give to the less fortunate. His contribution through foundations are reaching many needs in society and education. Bill and his wife Melinda Gates, have contributed economically to numerous projects in Healthcare and education around the world; from helping launch the Global Fund for Children's Vaccines with a support of $750 Million, $50 million of grants to help prevent the transmission of AIDS, charitable donation of $20 million to MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a computer science lab, and many more. In 2005 Bill and Melinda Gates were named Time's persons of the year, their foundation was climbing its spending to $900 million, to help eradicate tuberculosis.
Annotated Bibliography
Works Cited
"Bill Gates." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Biography in Context. Web. 9
th
, May 2016.Gale is a trusted website that is part of Cengage Learning, an innovator in educational products, offering educational services for higher education and K-12.
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