In 1973, the U.S. defense project contractor TRW to develop a set of computer supervisory and control system for managing reservoirs, but the old can not eliminate a variety of computer bugs, slow progress, look to be punished for breach of contract. In this emergency, TRW learned of Gates and Paul two little computer geniuses, they asked for help, and the two boys happily agreed. It was a very specialized and difficult job, and as a rule, high school students could only get the low wages of work-study students. But Gates didn't mind; his main goal was to improve and hone his software design skills through this kind of work. Lakeshore High School was also open-minded enough to allow upperclassmen to intern and work in companies after completing their required courses. Thanks to Gates and Paul, it was finally possible for TRW to complete the project on time and avoid a huge fine. In turn, Gates and Paul received specific instruction from one of the company's computer specialists, allowing both to improve their software skills.
Young Gates In the early 1970s, Gates shocked the computer world by writing his famous Open Letter to Enthusiasts. Gates declared that computer software would be a huge commercial market and that computer hobbyists should not feel free to copy computer programs without the consent of the original authors. The computer world at the time was influenced by the hacker culture and believed that creativity and knowledge should be ****enjoyed. Gates then left campus and single-handedly founded Microsoft, one of the world's most successful companies, and gradually industrialized software.
In 1975, at the age of 19, Gates predicted: "We realize that the age of software is upon us, and we have enough insight into the long-term potential of the chip to mean what? The software industry will never wait for me where I am if I don't seize the opportunity now instead of finishing my Harvard degree."
But one of Gates' business maneuvers that has often called for criticism is the origin of MS-DOS. In the late 1970s, IBM was planning to enter the personal computer market and officially launched the IBM Personal Computer (PC) in 1981.IBM needed to find a suitable operating system for its products, based on the Intel x86 family of processors.IBM found Microsoft after brief negotiations with another company. Microsoft, in turn, without telling IBM that it was negotiating with them, approached Seattle Computer to buy the operating system they had developed from them for a reported $50,000 (Microsoft supporters claim that there was an agreement between Microsoft and IBM at the time that Microsoft was not to disclose the negotiation to outsiders). Microsoft then later licensed the operating system (which has been renamed PC-DOS) to IBM. Microsoft also negotiated with other computer manufacturers to install the altered MS-DOS system on every new computer. Seattle Computer later sued Microsoft for purchasing the company's products at very low prices without telling them the facts, but the two sides eventually settled out of court. Gates' reputation was tarnished again by a series of U.S. government monopoly suits against Microsoft in the late 1990s.
Gates was optimistic about the future of the optical disk as a data storage medium in the mid-1980s and aggressively promoted the CD-ROM, but just last year he announced that the DVD would become obsolete.
When Apple's applied the mouse to the user interface in 1983 with its new Lisa product, it was a revolution in the personal computer industry. Gates immediately recognized the importance of a friendly graphical interface.
In 1990, Microsoft launched WINDOWS 3.0.
In 1995, Microsoft launched the Windows 95 operating system, which is a truly epoch-making software. It allowed users to get rid of the cumbersome and boring DOS commands, thus making personal computers extremely easy to use.
The Road Ahead, published in 1995, topped the New York Times bestseller list for seven weeks. Some of the book's predictions have come true.
Gates has also been accused of business misconduct. Gates was repeatedly sued for many of Microsoft's business practices under his leadership that violated U.S. law (antitrust laws). And was subjected to numerous lawsuits and was in danger of being split up. It is quite interesting to note that at the end of the 20th century, the two Bills (Bill Clinton and Bill Gates) ran into lawsuits and trouble almost simultaneously.
In 1998, Microsoft launched Windows 98, which was widely welcomed and Microsoft consolidated its dominance in the computer software industry.
In 1999, Gates authored the book "Future Tense," which showed how computer technology could 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 in The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and Amazon.com.
In 2000, Gates named his longtime friend Steve Ballmer as Microsoft's chief executive and himself "Chief Software Architect.
Towards the end of 2001, Microsoft launched Windows XP, and Gates himself came to Times Square to promote it.
On March 10, 2006, the 2006 Forbes "World's Richest People" was announced, and for the 12th consecutive year, Microsoft's Bill Gates became the world's richest person, with his net worth increasing from 4.4 billion to 4.5 billion. Microsoft's Bill Gates became the world's richest person for the 12th consecutive year, increasing his net worth from $46.5 billion to $50 billion.
On April 18, 2006, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, near Seattle. Gates and Steve Ballmer met with Hu and gave him a tour of Microsoft's Home of the Future. At about 18:30 p.m., Hu attended a dinner hosted by Gates at his home.
On June 15, 2006, Gates announced that he would retire in July 2008, when he would step down as chief software designer and no longer participate in Microsoft's management. At the time of the announcement, Gates appeared relatively calm, but could not hide the atmosphere of some sadness, and some employees even burst into tears. Gates will concentrate on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to which Gates donated tens of billions of dollars of his family's money, and said he would leave only a few million dollars for his three children. A Microsoft employee said, "There is no doubt that his generosity has brought hundreds of thousands of people back to life." Shortly thereafter, stockbroker Warren Buffett announced that he would donate $30 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, provided the Gateses were still alive!
After that...
Late 2006-early 2007, Windows Vista will arrive as promised. Gates is now busy with his last big thing as chief software designer, and after July 2008, the most sacred position at Microsoft will go to Ray Oates. After that, he'll devote himself to his foundation, but that doesn't mean he'll be indifferent to Microsoft -- he says he'll still be watching Microsoft's development after he retires, and will offer constructive advice when appropriate.
Besides 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 a number of special projects and annual gift distribution campaigns.
Not putting eggs in one basket
Warren Buffett once said of Bill Gates, "If he sold burgers instead of software, he'd be the world's burger king, too." The implication was that it wasn't Microsoft that made Gates who he is, but rather his business acumen that made the world's richest man.
Gates naturally has his own way of managing money. Gates' confidence in Microsoft's future has kept him investing a large portion of his wealth in the company's stock, and even though he is no longer CEO, he still leads the company's direction and strategic planning as Microsoft's chief architect. But the shrewd man also cashes in some shares at good prices where appropriate. Stock market trading records show that Gates sold 1 million shares of Microsoft stock on the open market last month alone, earning nearly $27 million.
Of course, smart people like Gates will never put "eggs in one basket". The visionary Gates began diversifying his investments long before the dot-com bubble burst. Gates established an investment company in 1995, which is known to manage a portfolio worth $10 billion, a large part of which is invested in the bond market with stable income, mainly Treasury bills.
Gates is bullish on the digital and biotech industries, which represent the new economy, but does not exclude the traditional economy from his investments, and particularly values the heavy industrial sector, which has performed consistently. Gates had acquired a 7.8 percent stake in Newport News Shipbuilding through his own investment firm, and those shares have since nearly doubled; his investment in Canadian National Railway also brought him a handsome return, with the stock price rising by about 1/3 in less than a year. in addition, Gates also likes to invest in utility companies that are highly resilient to market risks. And Gates' interest in scientific innovation has led him to make the pharmaceutical and biotech industries a key investment.
Self-proclaimed good use of every penny
Once upon a time, someone calculated that as rich as Bill Gates can be how to spend it, and concluded that: you can buy 31.57 space shuttles, or 344 Boeing 747s, shoot 268 "Titanic", and buy 156,000 Rolls-Royce-produced Bentley Continental limousines. But the truth is, the wealthy Gateses live frugally, and the only thing that qualifies as luxury is their $53 million mansion in a Seattle suburb. However, according to people who have been to the Gates' home, the furnishings inside the mansion are quite simple and not as opulent as one might expect. Gates once said, "I'm going to spend every dollar I make and not waste a penny."
Over the past few years, Gates has donated much of his personal wealth to charity. According to statistics, Gates has so far donated nearly $29 billion of his wealth to charitable causes around the world, making him the world's most generous wealthy person. Currently, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, named after both the Gateses, is the world's largest private philanthropic organization, with a fund three times the size of the venerable Ford Foundation and 10 times that of the Rockefeller Foundation. Last November, when he celebrated his 50th birthday in London, he told reporters present that the huge wealth under his name was not only a great right but also a great obligation for him personally, and that he was ready to donate all of this wealth to the community and not leave it to his children as an inheritance.