Chairman and chief software designer of Microsoft
Bill Gates is the chairman and chief software designer of Microsoft. Microsoft is a global leader in personal computing and business computing software, services and Internet technology. In the last fiscal year ending in June, 22, Microsoft < P > earned US$ 28.37 billion, operated in 78 countries and regions, and had more than 5, employees worldwide.
Gates was born on October 28th, 1955 and grew up in Seattle with his two sisters. Their father, William H. Gates II, is a lawyer in Seattle. His stepmother, Mary Gates, is a school teacher, a director of Washington University and the president of United Way International.
Gates studied in a public elementary school in Seattle and a private lakeside middle school. There, he discovered his interest in software and started computer programming at the age of 13.
In p>1973, Gates was admitted to Harvard University, and now he has made good friends with steve ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft. While at Harvard, Gates developed a version of the BASIC programming language for the first microcomputer, -MITS Altair.
In his junior year in college, Gates left Harvard and devoted all his energy to Microsoft, which he and his childhood friend Paul Allen founded in 1975. Guided by the belief that computers will become the most important tool in every family and office, they began to develop software for personal computers. Gates' foresight and his foresight in personal computing have become the key to the success of Microsoft and the software industry. Under the leadership of Gates, Microsoft continues to develop and improve software technology, making software easier to use, more economical and more fun. The company is committed to long-term development, which can be seen from the current research and development expenditure of more than 5 billion US dollars per fiscal year.
In p>1999, Gates compiled the book Future Speed, showing people how computer technology can solve business problems in a brand-new way. This book is published in more than 6 countries and 25 languages. Future Speed won wide acclaim and was listed as a best seller by The New York Times, USA-Today, The Wall Street Journal and Amazon.com. Gates' last book, The Road Ahead, published in 1995, once topped the The New York Times bestseller list for seven consecutive weeks.
Gates donated all the income from the two books to non-profit organizations to support education and skills training through science and technology.
In addition to his passion for computers and software, Gates is also interested in biotechnology. He is a member of the board of directors of ICOS, a company specializing in matrix and small molecule therapy in protein. He is also an investor in many other biotechnology companies. Gates also founded Corbis, which is researching and developing one of the largest visual information resources in the world-comprehensive digital archives of art and photography works from public and private collections around the world. In addition, Gates also invested in Teledesic with mobile phone pioneer Craig McCaw. This is an ambitious plan to use hundreds of low-orbit satellites to provide two-way broadband telecommunications services covering the whole world.
For Gates, philanthropy is also very important. He and his wife Melinda have donated more than $24 billion to set up a fund to support charities in the fields of global medical care, health and education, hoping that as mankind enters the 21st century, scientific and technological progress in these key fields will benefit all mankind. Up to today, the foundation established by Gates and his wife Melinda Gates has spent more than 2.5 billion dollars on global health and 1.4 billion dollars on improving people's learning conditions, including purchasing computer equipment for Gates Library, providing Internet training and Internet access services for public libraries in low-income communities in the United States and Canada. In addition, more than $26 million will be spent on community projects in the Pacific Northwest, and more than $38 million will be spent on special projects and annual gift distribution activities.
Gates and Melinda French Gates got married on January 1st, 1994. They have three children. Gates loves reading and playing golf and bridge.