| Early life | | | | The foundation has also received criticism because |
| Gates was born in Seattle, Washington, to William | | | | it invests the assets that it has not yet |
| H. Gates, Sr. and Mary Maxwell Gates, of English, | | | | distributed with the exclusive goal of maximizing |
| German, and Scotch-Irish descent. His family was | | | | the return on investment. As a result, its |
| upper middle class; his father was a prominent | | | | investments include companies that have been |
| lawyer, his mother served on the board of | | | | criticized for worsening poverty in the same |
| directors for First Interstate BancSystem and the | | | | developing countries where the Foundation is |
| United Way, and her father, J. W. Maxwell, was a | | | | attempting to relieve poverty. These include |
| national bank president. Gates has one elder sister, | | | | companies that pollute heavily and pharmaceutical |
| Kristi (Kristianne), and one younger sister, Libby. | | | | companies that do not sell into the developing |
| He was the fourth of his name in his family, but | | | | world. In response to press criticism, the |
| was known as William Gates III or "Trey" | | | | foundation announced in 2007 a review of its |
| because his father had dropped his own "III" | | | | investments to assess social responsibility. It |
| suffix. Early on in his life, Gates' parents had a law | | | | subsequently cancelled the review and stood by |
| career in mind for him. | | | | its policy of investing for maximum return, while |
| At 13 he enrolled in the Lakeside School, an | | | | using voting rights to influence company practices. |
| exclusive preparatory school. When he was in the | | | | Recognition |
| eighth grade, the Mothers Club at the school used | | | | Time magazine named Gates one of the 100 |
| proceeds from Lakeside School's rummage sale | | | | people who most influenced the 20th century, as |
| to buy an ASR-33 teletype terminal and a block | | | | well as one of the 100 most influential people of |
| of computer time on a General Electric (GE) | | | | 2004, 2005, and 2006. Time also collectively |
| computer for the school's students. Gates took | | | | named Gates, his wife Melinda and rock band U2's |
| an interest in programming the GE system in | | | | lead singer Bono as the 2005 Persons of the Year |
| BASIC and was excused from math classes to | | | | for their humanitarian efforts. In 2006, he was |
| pursue his interest. He wrote his first computer | | | | voted eighth in the list of "Heroes of our time". |
| program on this machine: an implementation of | | | | Gates was listed in the Sunday Times power list |
| tic-tac-toe that allowed users to play games | | | | in 1999, named CEO of the year by Chief |
| against the computer. Gates was fascinated by | | | | Executive Officers magazine in 1994, ranked |
| the machine and how it would always execute | | | | number one in the "Top 50 Cyber Elite" by Time |
| software code perfectly. When he reflected back | | | | in 1998, ranked number two in the Upside Elite |
| on that moment, he commented on it and said, | | | | 100 in 1999 and was included in The Guardian as |
| "There was just something neat about the | | | | one of the "Top 100 influential people in media" in |
| machine." After the Mothers Club donation was | | | | 2001. |
| exhausted, he and other students sought time on | | | | Gates has received honorary doctorates from |
| systems including DEC PDP minicomputers. One of | | | | Nyenrode Business Universiteit, Breukelen, The |
| these systems was a PDP-10 belonging to | | | | Netherlands, in 2000; the Royal Institute of |
| Computer Center Corporation (CCC), which | | | | Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, in 2002; Waseda |
| banned four Lakeside studentsates, Paul Allen, Ric | | | | University, Tokyo, Japan, in 2005; Tsinghua |
| Weiland, and Kent Evansor the summer after it | | | | University, Beijing, China, in April 2007; Harvard |
| caught them exploiting bugs in the operating | | | | University in June 2007; the Karolinska Institutet, |
| system to obtain free computer time. | | | | Stockholm, in January 2008, and Cambridge |
| At the end of the ban, the four students offered | | | | University in June 2009. He was also made an |
| to find bugs in CCC's software in exchange for | | | | honorary trustee of Peking University in 2007. |
| computer time. Rather than use the system via | | | | Gates was also made an honorary Knight |
| teletype, Gates went to CCC's offices and studied | | | | Commander of the Order of the British Empire |
| source code for various programs that ran on the | | | | (KBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005, in addition to |
| system, including programs in FORTRAN, LISP, | | | | having entomologists name the Bill Gates flower |
| and machine language. The arrangement with CCC | | | | fly, Eristalis gatesi, in his honor. |
| continued until 1970, when the company went out | | | | In November 2006, he and his wife were |
| of business. The following year, Information | | | | awarded the Order of the Aztec Eagle for their |
| Sciences Inc. hired the four Lakeside students to | | | | philanthropic work around the world in the areas |
| write a payroll program in COBOL, providing them | | | | of health and education, particularly in Mexico, and |
| computer time and royalties. After his | | | | specifically in the program "Un pas de lectores". In |
| administrators became aware of his programming | | | | October 2009, it was announced that Gates will |
| abilities, Gates wrote the school's computer | | | | be awarded the 2010 Bower Award for Business |
| program to schedule students in classes. He | | | | Leadership of The Franklin Institute for his |
| modified the code so that he was placed in | | | | achievements in business and for his philanthropic |
| classes with mostly female students. He later | | | | work. |
| stated that "it was hard to tear myself away | | | | Investments |
| from a machine at which I could so unambiguously | | | | Cascade Investments LLC, a private investment |
| demonstrate success." At age 17, Gates formed | | | | and holding company, incorporated in United |
| a venture with Allen, called Traf-O-Data, to make | | | | States, is controlled by Bill Gates, and is |
| traffic counters based on the Intel 8008 | | | | headquartered in the city of Kirkland, WA.bgC3, a |
| processor. In early 1973, Bill Gates served as a | | | | new think-tank company founded by Bill Gates. |
| congressional page in the U.S. House of | | | | Corbis, a digital image licensing and rights services |
| Representatives. | | | | company. |
| Bill Gates' mugshot from a traffic violation in 1977 | | | | Bibliography |
| Gates graduated from Lakeside School in 1973. | | | | Gates has authored two books: |
| He scored 1590 out of 1600 on the SAT and | | | | The Road Ahead (1995) |
| subsequently enrolled at Harvard College in the | | | | Business @ the Speed of Thought (1999) |
| autumn of 1973. Prior to the mid-1990s, an SAT | | | | Filmography |
| score of 1590 corresponded roughly to an IQ of | | | | Gates has appeared in at least one film: |
| 170, a figure that has been cited frequently by | | | | Waiting For Superman |
| the press. While at Harvard, he met his future | | | | Notes |
| business partner, Steve Ballmer, whom he later | | | | ^ a b "#1 William Gates III - The Forbes 400 |
| appointed as CEO of Microsoft. He also met | | | | Richest Americans 2009". Forbes. 2009-09-30. |
| computer scientist Christos Papadimitriou at | | | | Retrieved 2009-10-02. |
| Harvard, with whom he collaborated on a paper | | | | ^ (Manes 1994, p. 11) |
| about pancake sorting. He did not have a definite | | | | ^ a b Chapman, Glenn (2008-06-27). "Bill Gates |
| study plan while a student at Harvard and spent a | | | | Signs Off". Agence France-Presse. |
| lot of time using the school's computers. He | | | | ^ Wahba, Phil (2008-09-17). "Bill Gates tops U.S. |
| remained in contact with Paul Allen, joining him at | | | | wealth list 15 years in a row". Reuters. Retrieved |
| Honeywell during the summer of 1974. The | | | | 2008-11-06. |
| following year saw the release of the MITS Altair | | | | ^ Gates regularly documents his share ownership |
| 8800 based on the Intel 8080 CPU, and Gates | | | | through public SEC form 4 filings. |
| and Allen saw this as the opportunity to start | | | | ^ (Manes 1994, p. 459) |
| their own computer software company. He had | | | | ^ (Lesinski 2006, p. 96) |
| talked this decision over with his parents, who | | | | ^ Ancestry of Bill Gates |
| were supportive of him after seeing how much | | | | ^ "Scottish Americans". Retrieved 2009-04-29. |
| Gates wanted to start a company. | | | | ^ (Manes 1994, p. 15) |
| Microsoft | | | | ^ (Manes 1994, p. 47) |
| Main articles: History of Microsoft and Microsoft | | | | ^ (Manes 1994, p. 24) |
| BASIC | | | | ^ (Manes 1994, p. 27) |
| MITS Altair 8800 Computer with 8-inch | | | | ^ a b (Gates 1996, p. 12) |
| (200 mm) floppy disk system | | | | ^ (Manes 1994, p. 34) |
| After reading the January 1975 issue of Popular | | | | ^ (Gates 1996, p. 14) |
| Electronics that demonstrated the Altair 8800, | | | | ^ "Congressional Page History", The United States |
| Gates contacted Micro Instrumentation and | | | | House Page Association of America. "The Page |
| Telemetry Systems (MITS), the creators of the | | | | Program has produced many politicians, Members |
| new microcomputer, to inform them that he and | | | | of Congress, as well as other famous men and |
| others were working on a BASIC interpreter for | | | | women. Some of these include: the Honorable |
| the platform. In reality, Gates and Allen did not | | | | John Dingell, the longest serving Member of |
| have an Altair and had not written code for it; | | | | Congress, Bill Gates, founder and CEO of the |
| they merely wanted to gauge MITS's interest. | | | | Microsoft Corporation, and Donnald K. Anderson, |
| MITS president Ed Roberts agreed to meet them | | | | former Clerk of the House." |
| for a demo, and over the course of a few | | | | ^ "The newnd improved?AT". The Week |
| weeks they developed an Altair emulator that ran | | | | Magazine. Retrieved 2006-05-23. |
| on a minicomputer, and then the BASIC | | | | ^ (Gates 1996, p. 15) |
| interpreter. The demonstration, held at MITS's | | | | ^ |
| offices in Albuquerque, was a success and | | | | ^ |
| resulted in a deal with MITS to distribute the | | | | ^ Gates, William; Papadimitriou, Christos (1979). |
| interpreter as Altair BASIC. Paul Allen was hired | | | | "Bounds for sorting by prefix reversal". Discrete |
| into MITS, and Gates took a leave of absence | | | | mathematics 27: 4757. doi:10.1016 |
| from Harvard to work with Allen at MITS in | | | | 0012-365X(79)90068-2. |
| Albuquerque in November 1975. They named their | | | | ^ a b (Gates 1996, p. 19) |
| partnership "Micro-Soft" and had their first office | | | | ^ (Wallace & 1993 59) |
| located in Albuquerque. Within a year, the hyphen | | | | ^ (Gates 1996, p. 18) |
| was dropped, and on November 26, 1976, the | | | | ^ a b c (.DOC) Microsoft Visitor Center Student |
| trade name "Microsoft" was registered with the | | | | Information: Key Events in Microsoft History. |
| Office of the Secretary of the State of New | | | | Microsoft. Retrieved 2008-02-18. |
| Mexico. Gates never returned to Harvard to | | | | ^ a b c d "Microsoft history". The History of |
| complete his studies. | | | | Computing Project. Retrieved 2008-03-31. |
| Microsoft's BASIC was popular with computer | | | | ^ (Manes 1994, p. 81) |
| hobbyists, but Gates discovered that a | | | | ^ Gates, Bill. "Remarks by Bill Gates" Waterloo, |
| pre-market copy had leaked into the community | | | | Ontario (2005-10-13). Retrieved on 2008-03-31. |
| and was being widely copied and distributed. In | | | | (META redirects to ) |
| February 1976, Gates wrote an Open Letter to | | | | ^ Maiello, John Steele Gordon Michael (2002-12-23). |
| Hobbyists in the MITS newsletter saying that | | | | "Pioneers Die Broke". Forbes. Retrieved |
| MITS could not continue to produce, distribute, | | | | 2008-03-31. |
| and maintain high-quality software without | | | | ^ (Gates 1996, p. 54) |
| payment. This letter was unpopular with many | | | | ^ (Manes 1994, p. 193) |
| computer hobbyists, but Gates persisted in his | | | | ^ "May 16, 1991 internal strategies memo from |
| belief that software developers should be able to | | | | Bill Gates". Bralyn. Retrieved 2008-04-04. |
| demand payment. Microsoft became independent | | | | ^ Rensin, David (1994). "The Bill Gates Interview". |
| of MITS in late 1976, and it continued to develop | | | | Playboy. |
| programming language software for various | | | | ^ Ballmer, Steve (1997-10-09). "Steve Ballmer |
| systems. The company moved from Albuquerque | | | | Speech Transcript Church Hill Club". Microsoft. |
| to its new home in Bellevue, Washington on | | | | Retrieved 2008-03-31. |
| January 1, 1979. | | | | ^ a b Isaacson, Walter (1997-01-13). "The Gates |
| During Microsoft's early years, all employees had | | | | Operating System". Time. Retrieved 2008-03-31. |
| broad responsibility for the company's business. | | | | ^ Bank, David (1999-02-01). "Breaking Windows". |
| Gates oversaw the business details, but continued | | | | The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2008-03-31. |
| to write code as well. In the first five years, he | | | | ^ a b Gates, Bill. "Remarks by Bill Gates" San |
| personally reviewed every line of code the | | | | Diego, California (1997-09-26). Retrieved on |
| company shipped, and often rewrote parts of it | | | | 2008-03-31. |
| as he saw fit. | | | | ^ Herbold, Robert (2004). The Fiefdom |
| IBM partnership | | | | Syndrome: The Turf Battles That Undermine |
| In 1980, IBM approached Microsoft to write the | | | | Careers and Companies - And How to Overcome |
| BASIC interpreter for its upcoming personal | | | | Them. |
| computer, the IBM PC. When IBM's | | | | ^ "Microsoft Announces Plans for July 2008 |
| representatives mentioned that they needed an | | | | Transition for Bill Gates". Microsoft. 2006-06-15. |
| operating system, Gates referred them to Digital | | | | ^ "Gates deposition makes judge laugh in court". |
| Research (DRI), makers of the widely used CP/M | | | | CNN. 1998-11-17. Retrieved 2008-03-30. |
| operating system. IBM's discussions with Digital | | | | ^ "Microsoft's Teflon Bill". BusinessWeek. |
| Research went poorly, and they did not reach a | | | | 1998-11-30. Retrieved 2008-03-30. |
| licensing agreement. IBM representative Jack | | | | ^ a b Heilemann, John (2000-11-01). "The Truth, |
| Sams mentioned the licensing difficulties during a | | | | The Whole Truth, and Nothing But The Truth". |
| subsequent meeting with Gates and told him to | | | | Wired 46 (8): 833. doi:10.1007/s11517-008-0355-6. |
| get an acceptable operating system. A few | | | | PMID 18509686. Retrieved 2008-03-31. |
| weeks later Gates proposed using 86-DOS | | | | ^ The Smoking Gun mugshots |
| (QDOS), an operating system similar to CP/M that | | | | ^ MSNBC adblog site |
| Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer Products | | | | ^ CNET Project Tuva |
| (SCP) had made for hardware similar to the PC. | | | | ^ Softpedia |
| Microsoft made a deal with SCP to become the | | | | ^ coverage of the Gates' Medina, Washington |
| exclusive licensing agent, and later the full owner, | | | | estate |
| of 86-DOS. After adapting the operating system | | | | ^ (Lesinski 2006, p. 74) |
| for the PC, Microsoft delivered it to IBM as | | | | ^ Paterson, Thane (2000-06-13). "Advice for Bill |
| PC-DOS in exchange for a one-time fee of | | | | Gates: A Little Culture Wouldn't Hurt". Business |
| $50,000. Gates did not offer to transfer the | | | | Week. Retrieved 2008-04-28. |
| copyright on the operating system, because he | | | | ^ "Bill Gates: Chairman". Microsoft Corporation. |
| believed that other hardware vendors would clone | | | | 2008. |
| IBM's system. They did, and the sales of MS-DOS | | | | ^ "Profile: Bill Gates". BBC news. 2004-01-26. |
| made Microsoft a major player in the industry. | | | | Retrieved 2010-01-01. |
| Windows | | | | ^ (Fridson 2001, p. 113) |
| Gates oversaw Microsoft's company restructuring | | | | ^ Bolger, Joe (2006-05-05). "I wish I was not the |
| on June 25, 1981, which re-incorporated the | | | | richest man in the world, says Bill Gates". London: |
| company in Washington and made Gates | | | | The Times. Retrieved 2008-03-31. |
| President of Microsoft and the Chairman of the | | | | ^ "Microsoft 2006 Proxy Statement". Microsoft. |
| Board. Microsoft launched its first retail version of | | | | 2007-10-06. Retrieved 2008-02-14. |
| Microsoft Windows on November 20, 1985, and in | | | | ^ Fried, Ina (2004-12-14). "Gates joins board of |
| August, the company struck a deal with IBM to | | | | Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway". CNET. Retrieved |
| develop a separate operating system called OS/2. | | | | 2008-03-31. |
| Although the two companies successfully | | | | ^ "Flat-pack accounting". The Economist. |
| developed the first version of the new system, | | | | 2006-05-11. Retrieved 2008-04-01. |
| mounting creative differences undermined the | | | | ^ Cronin, Jon (2005-01-25). "Bill Gates: billionaire |
| partnership. Gates distributed an internal memo on | | | | philanthropist". BBC News. Retrieved 2008-04-01. |
| May 16, 1991, announcing that the OS/2 | | | | ^ "Our Approach to Giving". Bill & Melinda |
| partnership was over and Microsoft would shift its | | | | Gates Foundation. Retrieved 2008-04-01. |
| efforts to the Windows NT kernel development. | | | | ^ (PDF) 2005 Annual Report. Rockefeller Brothers |
| Management style | | | | Fund. 2006-01-01. Retrieved 2008-02-14. |
| From Microsoft's founding in 1975 until 2006, | | | | ^ The 50 most generous Americans. |
| Gates had primary responsibility for the | | | | ^ Dark cloud over good works of Gates |
| company's product strategy. He aggressively | | | | Foundation, Los Angeles Times, January 7, 2006. |
| broadened the company's range of products, and | | | | ^ Gates Foundation to review investments, The |
| wherever Microsoft achieved a dominant position | | | | Seattle Times, January 10, 2007. |
| he vigorously defended it. | | | | ^ Gates Foundation to maintain its investment |
| As an executive, Gates met regularly with | | | | plan, The Austin Statesman, January 14, 2007. |
| Microsoft's senior managers and program | | | | ^ (Lesinski 2006, p. 102) |
| managers. Firsthand accounts of these meetings | | | | ^ Cowley, Jason (2006-06-22). "Heroes of our |
| describe him as verbally combative, berating | | | | time the top 50". New Statesman. Retrieved |
| managers for perceived holes in their business | | | | 2008-02-17. |
| strategies or proposals that placed the company's | | | | ^ "Gates 'second only to Blair'". BBC News. |
| long-term interests at risk. He often interrupted | | | | 1999-09-26. Retrieved 2008-03-30. |
| presentations with such comments as, "That's the | | | | ^ Nyenrode Business Universiteit (2003-08-13). |
| stupidest thing I've ever heard!" and, "Why don't | | | | "Eredoctoraat Universiteit Nyenrode voor Wim |
| you just give up your options and join the Peace | | | | Kok" (in Dutch). Press release. Retrieved |
| Corps?" The target of his outburst then had to | | | | 2008-02-18. |
| defend the proposal in detail until, hopefully, Gates | | | | ^ |
| was fully convinced. When subordinates appeared | | | | ^ Hughes, Gina (2007-06-08). "Bill Gates Gets |
| to be procrastinating, he was known to remark | | | | Degree After 30 Years". Yahoo!. Retrieved |
| sarcastically, "I'll do it over the weekend." | | | | 2008-02-18. |
| Gates's role at Microsoft for most of its history | | | | ^ Svrd, Madeleine (2008-01-24). "Bill Gates |
| was primarily a management and executive role. | | | | honored with a doctor's cap". Karolinska Institutet. |
| However, he was an active software developer in | | | | Retrieved 2008-02-18. |
| the early years, particularly on the company's | | | | ^ University of Cambridge (2009-06-12). "The |
| programming language products. He has not | | | | Chancellor in Cambridge to confer Honorary |
| officially been on a development team since | | | | Degrees". University of Cambridge. Retrieved |
| working on the TRS-80 Model 100 line, but wrote | | | | 2009-08-20. |
| code as late as 1989 that shipped in the | | | | ^ |
| company's products. On June 15, 2006, Gates | | | | ^ "Knighthood for Microsoft's Gates". BBC News. |
| announced that he would transition out of his | | | | 2005-03-02. Retrieved 2008-02-18. |
| day-to-day role over the next two years to | | | | ^ Thompson, F. Christian (1999-08-19). "Bill Gates' |
| dedicate more time to philanthropy. He divided his | | | | Flower Fly Eristalis gatesi Thompson". The Diptera |
| responsibilities between two successors, placing | | | | Site. Retrieved 2008-02-18. |
| Ray Ozzie in charge of day-to-day management | | | | ^ "Proclamation of the Award". Diario Oficial de la |
| and Craig Mundie in charge of long-term product | | | | Federacin. Retrieved 2008-03-30. |
| strategy. | | | | ^ Bill Gates Goes to Sundance, Offers an |
| Antitrust litigation | | | | Education, ABC News, January 23, 2010 |
| Bill Gates giving his deposition at Microsoft on | | | | See also |
| August 27, 1998 | | | | List of billionaires (also see List of college dropout |
| Further information: United States Microsoft | | | | billionaires and List of wealthiest non-inflated |
| antitrust case and European Union Microsoft | | | | historical figures) |
| competition case | | | | Paul Allen - Microsoft's co-founder, friend, and |
| Many decisions that led to antitrust litigation over | | | | fellow billionaire |
| Microsoft's business practices have had Gates' | | | | Gary Kildall - The man who could have been Bill |
| approval. In the 1998 United States v. Microsoft | | | | Gates |
| case, Gates gave deposition testimony that | | | | References |
| several journalists characterized as evasive. He | | | | ^ |
| argued with examiner David Boies over the | | | | Books |
| contextual meaning of words like "compete", | | | | Fridson, Martin (2001). How to be a Billionaire: |
| "concerned" and "we".BusinessWeek reported: | | | | Proven Strategies from the Titans of Wealth. |
| Early rounds of his deposition show him offering | | | | John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0471416177. |
| obfuscatory answers and saying 'I don't recall,' so | | | | Gates, Bill (1996). The Road Ahead. Penguin Books. |
| many times that even the presiding judge had to | | | | ISBN 0140260404. |
| chuckle. Worse, many of the technology chief's | | | | Lesinski, Jeanne M. (2006). Bill Gates (Biography (a |
| denials and pleas of ignorance were directly | | | | & E)). A&E Television Networks. ISBN |
| refuted by prosecutors with snippets of e-mail | | | | 0822570270. |
| Gates both sent and received. | | | | Manes, Stephen (1994). Gates: How Microsoft's |
| Gates later said that he had simply resisted | | | | Mogul Reinvented an Industry and Made Himself |
| attempts by Boies to mischaracterize his words | | | | The Richest Man in America. Touchstone Pictures. |
| and actions. As to his demeanor during the | | | | ISBN 0671880748. |
| deposition, he said, "Did I fence with Boies? ... I | | | | Wallace, James (1993). Hard Drive: Bill Gates and |
| plead guilty. Whatever that penalty is should be | | | | the Making of the Microsoft Empire. New York: |
| levied against me: rudeness to Boies in the first | | | | HarperCollins Publishers. |
| degree." Despite Gates's denials, the judge ruled | | | | Further reading |
| that Microsoft had committed monopolization and | | | | "The Meaning of Bill Gates: As his reign at |
| tying, blocking competition, in violation of the | | | | Microsoft comes to an end, so does the era he |
| Sherman Antitrust Act. | | | | dominated", The Economist, June 28, 2008. |
| Appearance in ads | | | | External links |
| Gates decided in 2008, to appear in at least one | | | | Find more about Bill Gates on Wikipedia's sister |
| commercial in a series of ads to promote | | | | projects: |
| Microsoft. This commercial, co-starring Jerry | | | | Definitions from Wiktionary |
| Seinfeld, is a 90-second talk between strangers as | | | | Textbooks from Wikibooks |
| Seinfeld walks up on a discount shoe store (Shoe | | | | Quotations from Wikiquote |
| Circus) in a mall and notices Gates buying shoes | | | | Source texts from Wikisource |
| inside. The salesman is trying to sell Mr. Gates | | | | Images and media from Commons |
| shoes that are a size too big. As Gates is buying | | | | News stories from Wikinews |
| the shoes he holds up his discount card, which | | | | Learning resources from Wikiversity |
| uses a slightly altered version of his own mugshot | | | | The Official Site of Bill Gates - The Gates Notes |
| of his arrest in New Mexico in 1977 for a traffic | | | | Biography of Bill Gates at Bill Gates on Twitter |
| violation. As they are walking out of the mall, | | | | Forbes: World's Richest People |
| Seinfeld asks Gates if he has melded his mind to | | | | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
| other developers, after getting a yes, he then | | | | How I Work: Bill Gates |
| asks if they are working on a way to make | | | | TED Talks: Bill Gates trying to change the world |
| computers edible, again getting a yes. Some say | | | | now at TED in 2009 |
| that this is an homage to Seinfeld's own show | | | | Creativity devoted to Bill Gates and his |
| about "nothing" (Seinfeld). In a second commercial | | | | achievements |
| in the series, Gates and Seinfeld are at the home | | | | Honorary titles |
| of an average family trying to fit in with normal | | | | Preceded by |
| people. | | | | Warren Buffett |
| Post-Microsoft | | | | World's Richest Person |
| Since leaving Microsoft, Gates continues his | | | | 19962007 |
| philanthropy and, among other projects, | | | | Succeeded by |
| purchased the videos rights to the Messenger | | | | Warren Buffett |
| Lectures series titled The Character of Physical | | | | Preceded by |
| Law, given at Cornell University by Richard | | | | Warren Buffett |
| Feynman in 1964 and recorded by the BBC. The | | | | World's Richest Person |
| videos are available online to the public at | | | | 2009 |
| Microsoft's Project Tuva. | | | | Succeeded by |
| Personal life | | | | Incumbentv d e |
| Bill and Melinda Gates, June 2009. | | | | Executive officers of Microsoft Corporation |
| Gates married Melinda French from Dallas, Texas | | | | Board Chairman |
| on January 1, 1994. They have three children. The | | | | Bill Gates |
| Gates' home is an earth-sheltered house in the | | | | Chief Officers |
| side of a hill overlooking Lake Washington in | | | | CEO Steve Ballmer CFO Peter Klein CRSO |
| Medina, Washington. According to King County | | | | Craig Mundie CSA Ray Ozzie COO Kevin |
| public records, as of 2006 the total assessed | | | | Turner |
| value of the property (land and house) is $125 | | | | Presidents |
| million, and the annual property tax is $991,000. | | | | Robert J. Bach Stephen Elop Steven Sinofsky |
| His 66,000 sq. ft. estate has a 60-foot swimming | | | | Qi Lu Bob Muglia |
| pool with an underwater music system, as well as | | | | Senior Vice- |
| a 2500 sq. ft. gym and a 1000 sq. ft. dining room. | | | | Presidents |
| Also among Gates's private acquisitions is the | | | | Lisa Brummel Jean-Philippe Courtois Jon |
| Codex Leicester, a collection of writings by | | | | DeVaan Kurt DelBene Antoine Leblond Mich |
| Leonardo da Vinci, which Gates bought for $30.8 | | | | Mathews Don A. Mattrick Yusuf Mehdi Satya |
| million at an auction in 1994. Gates is also known | | | | Nadella Richard Rashid Eric Rudder Brad |
| as an avid reader, and the ceiling of his large | | | | Smith Sivaramakrishnan Somasegar David |
| home library is engraved with a quotation from | | | | Vaskevitch Henry P. Vigil Robert |
| The Great Gatsby. He also enjoys playing bridge, | | | | Youngjohnsv d e |
| tennis, and golf. | | | | Time Persons of the Year |
| Gates was number one on the "Forbes 400" list | | | | Rudolph Giuliani (2001) The Whistleblowers: |
| from 1993 through to 2007 and number one on | | | | Cynthia Cooper / Coleen Rowley / Sherron |
| Forbes list of "The World's Richest People" from | | | | Watkins (2002) The American Soldier (2003) |
| 1995 to 2007 and 2009. In 1999, Gates's wealth | | | | George W. Bush (2004) The Good Samaritans: |
| briefly surpassed $101 billion, causing the media to | | | | Bono / Bill Gates / Melinda Gates (2005) You |
| call him a "centibillionaire". Since 2000, the nominal | | | | (2006) Vladimir Putin (2007) Barack Obama |
| value of his Microsoft holdings has declined due to | | | | (2008) Ben Bernanke (2009) |
| a fall in Microsoft's stock price after the dot-com | | | | Complete roster 19271950 19511975 |
| bubble burst and the multi-billion dollar donations he | | | | 19762000 20012009v d e |
| has made to his charitable foundations. In a May | | | | Berkshire Hathaway |
| 2006 interview, Gates commented that he wished | | | | Corporate directors |
| that he were not the richest man in the world | | | | Warren Buffett (Chairman and CEO) Charlie |
| because he disliked the attention it brought. Gates | | | | Munger Howard Graham Buffett Susan |
| has several investments outside Microsoft, which | | | | Decker Bill Gates David Gottesman Charlotte |
| in 2006 paid him a salary of $616,667, and | | | | Guyman Donald Keough Thomas S. Murphy |
| $350,000 bonus totalling $966,667. He founded | | | | Ronald Olson Walter Scott, Jr. |
| Corbis, a digital imaging company, in 1989. In 2004 | | | | Insurance |
| he became a director of Berkshire Hathaway, the | | | | Applied Underwriters Inc. Berkshire Hathaway |
| investment company headed by long-time friend | | | | Assurance Central States Indemnity Company |
| Warren Buffett. | | | | GEICO General Re Kansas Bankers Surety |
| Philanthropy | | | | Company Medical Protective National Indemnity |
| Gates (second from right) with Bono, Queen | | | | Company United States Liability Insurance Group |
| Rania of Jordan, British Prime Minister Gordon | | | | Wesco Financial Swiss Re |
| Brown, President Yar Adua of Nigeria and other | | | | Materials and Construction |
| participants in a 'Call to Action on the Millennium | | | | Acme Brick Benjamin Moore & Co. |
| Development Goals' during the Annual Meeting | | | | Clayton Homes IMC Group (Iscar) |
| 2008 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, | | | | Johns-Manville MiTek Precision Steel |
| Switzerland. | | | | Warehouse, Inc. Shaw Industries |
| Further information: Bill & Melinda Gates | | | | Furniture |
| Foundation | | | | CORT Business Services Jordan's Furniture |
| Gates began to realize the expectations others | | | | Larson-Juhl Nebraska Furniture Mart RC Willey |
| had of him when public opinion mounted that he | | | | Home Furnishings Star Furniture |
| could give more of his wealth to charity. Gates | | | | Apparel |
| studied the work of Andrew Carnegie and John D. | | | | Fruit of the Loom Russell Garanimals |
| Rockefeller and in 1994 sold some of his Microsoft | | | | Fechheimer Brothers Acme Boots H.H. Brown |
| stock to create the William H. Gates Foundation. | | | | Shoe Group Justin Brands |
| In 2000, Gates and his wife combined three | | | | Transportation |
| family foundations into one to create the | | | | BNSF Railway NetJets NetJets Europe |
| charitable Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, | | | | FlightSafety International Forest River McLane |
| which is the largest transparently operated | | | | Company XTRA Lease |
| charitable foundation in the world. The foundation | | | | Food |
| is set up to allow benefactors access to how its | | | | Dairy Queen Orange Julius The Pampered |
| money is being spent, unlike other major | | | | Chef See's Candies |
| charitable organizations such as the Wellcome | | | | Other |
| Trust. The generosity and extensive philanthropy | | | | Ben Bridge Jeweler Blue Chip Stamps |
| of David Rockefeller has been credited as a | | | | Borsheim's Fine Jewelry The Buffalo News |
| major influence. Gates and his father have met | | | | Business Wire CTB International Kirby |
| with Rockefeller several times and have modeled | | | | Company MidAmerican Energy Holdings |
| their giving in part on the Rockefeller family's | | | | Company Mouser Electronics World Book |
| philanthropic focus, namely those global problems | | | | Encyclopedia |
| that are ignored by governments and other | | | | Annual Meetings |
| organizations. As of 2007, Bill and Melinda Gates | | | | May 1, 2010 and April 30, 2011 |
| were the second most generous philanthropists in | | | | Annual Revenue: S$118. |
| America, having given over $28 billion to charity. | | | | |