Chairman and Chief Software Architect, Microsoft Corporation
Bill Gates is chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft is a worldwide leader in personal and business computing software, services and Internet technologies. With revenues of $28.37 billion for the last fiscal year ended June 2002, Microsoft operates in 78 countries and territories and employs more than 50,000 people worldwide.
Gates was born on Oct. 28, 1955, and grew up in Seattle with two sisters. Their father, William H. Gates II, is a Seattle attorney. Gates' late mother, Mary Gates, was a schoolteacher, a trustee of the University of Washington and president of United Way International.
Gates attended public elementary schools and the private Lakeshore Middle School in Seattle. There he discovered his interest in software and began computer programming at age 13.
In 1973, Gates enrolled at Harvard University. He became good friends with Steve Ballmer, now the CEO of Microsoft. While at Harvard, Gates developed a version of the BASIC programming language for the first microcomputer, the MITS Altair.
In his junior year of college, Gates left Harvard and devoted his full attention to Microsoft, which he founded in 1975 with his childhood friend Paul Allen. Guided by the belief that the computer would become the most important tool in every home and office, they began developing software for the personal computer. Gates' vision and his foresight in personal computing became the key to the success of Microsoft and the software industry. Under Gates' leadership, Microsoft has continued to develop and improve software technology to make it easier to use, less expensive, and more enjoyable. The company is committed to the long term, as evidenced by its current research and development expenditures of more than $5 billion per fiscal year.
In 1999, Gates authored the book "Future Tense," which shows how computer technology can solve business problems in new ways. The book was published in more than 60 countries and in 25 languages. Future Tense has won wide acclaim and has been listed as a bestseller by The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and Amazon.com. Gates' previous book, The Road Ahead, published in 1995, topped the New York Times bestseller list for seven weeks.
Gates donated all proceeds from both books to nonprofit organizations that support the use of technology for education and skills training.
In addition to his love of computers and software, Gates has an interest in biotechnology. He is on the board of directors of ICOS, a company that specializes in protein matrices and small-molecule therapeutics. He is also an investor in many other biotech companies. Gates also founded Corbis, Inc., which is developing one of the world's largest visual information resources - a comprehensive digital archive of art and photography from public and private collections worldwide. In addition, Gates, along with cell phone pioneer Craig McCaw, has invested in Teledesic, an ambitious program that plans to use hundreds of low-orbit satellites to provide two-way broadband telecommunications with worldwide coverage.
Philanthropy is also important to Gates. He and his wife, Melinda, have donated more than $24 billion to create a fund to support philanthropy in the areas of global health care and education, in the hope that scientific and technological advances in these critical areas will benefit all of humanity as it enters the 21st century. To date, the fund established by Gates and his wife, Melinda Gates, has spent more than $2.5 billion on global health and more than $1.4 billion on improving learning conditions, including the purchase of computer equipment for the Gates Library and Internet training and Internet access for public **** libraries in low-income communities in the United States and Canada. In addition more than $260 million will be spent on building community programs in the Pacific Northwest, and more than $380 million will be spent on special projects and annual gift distribution campaigns.
2005 Forbes Rich List Top 10
Rank Name Region Net Worth Source of Assets
($billion )
1 Bill Gates U.S.A. 465 Microsoft
2 Warren Buffett U.S.A. 440 Poksha Hathaway
3 Rashmi Mittal India 250 Steel
4 Carlos Slim Holu Mexico 238 Telecommunications
5 Prince Asoud Saudi Arabia 237 Investments
6 Ingvar Kaprad Sweden 230 IKEA
7 Paul Allen United States 210 Investment in Microsoft
8 Karl Albacete Germany 185 Supermarkets
9 Lawrence Ellison United States 184 Oracle
10 Robson Walton United States 183 Walmart
Gates and Melinda French Gates were married on January 1, 1994 They have three children. Gates loves to read and enjoys playing golf and bridge.