Who is Bill Gates?

Who is Bill Gates? October, 1955. Bill Gates is born. Shortly after 9 pm in Seattle, Washington, William Bill Henry Gates III was born to William H II and Mary Maxwell Gates. His unique brain power and curiosity for technology were discovered early in childhood. January, 1967. Bill Gates education. Gates is enrolled in the Lakeside School, an exclusive private school in Seattle, where he befriends Paul Allen. Bill Gates and Paul Allen both share an interest in computers and programming. June, 1969. First computer program. Gates took an interest in programming the GE system in BASIC. At age 13, he wrote his first computer program on a computer, which was an implementation of tic-tac-toe that allowed users to play games against the computer. February, 1973. Enrolls in Harvard University. After graduating from Blakewood School, being National Merit Scholar and scoring 1590 out of 1600 on the SAT, Gates gets enrolled in Harvard University, where he studied pre-law influenced by his father. But later his focus is shifted towards computers and programming. May, 1975. Calls MITS for a job. Bill Gates signs up for a job with MITS from his dorm room to develop software for the MITS Altair starting his journey of programming. He later marks his first absence from school, dropping out in the same year to start working on the software venture he refers to as Microsoft. May, 1976. Registers Microsoft trademark. Gates and Allen register the trademark Microsoft. Gates writes an open letter to computer hobbyists condemning the early adopters for sharing rather than paying for software. April, 1977. Setting up Microsoft. Gates takes a second leave of absence from Harvard and sets up Microsoft in Albuquerque, N.M., where MITS is headquartered. Microsoft's year-end sales exceeds $1 million in 1978, gaining Bill a reputation for being tough but focused. August, 1981. Microsoft launches MS-DOS system. Microsoft incorporates and buys the rights to the operating system DOS from Seattle Computer Products and provides its license to IBM. Followed by this, in 1983, Allen leaves Microsoft after developing Hodgkin's disease and Microsoft announces Windows as an extension of its MS-DOS operating system. November, 1985. Microsoft Windows and IBM. Bill launched the first retail version of Microsoft Window. In August of the following year, Microsoft struck a deal with IBM to develop a separate operating system called OS-2, although the partnership deteriorated due to creative differences. November, 1987. Youngest billionaire in the world. At age 31, Gates becomes the youngest billionaire ever. He meets his future wife, Melinda French, at a Microsoft event in New York the same year. September, 1989. Emergence of Corbis. Gates found Corbis, an archive of art and photography from public and private collections. Corbis later becomes one of the largest collections of visual information in the world. September, 1990. Bill vs. State. The Federal Trade Commission began an investigation into possible collusion between IBM and Microsoft for divvying up the market for operating systems in an anti-competitive way. The matter was later settled in 1994. March, 1994. Gates marries Melinda. Bill Gates and Melinda French got married in 1994 on a golf course on the Hawaiian island of Linnea. They had three children together, Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe. In the same year, they found one of the largest private foundations in the world, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. July, 1995. Richest Man Alive. At age 39 and with a fortune of $12.9 billion, Gates becomes the world's richest man. Later that summer in 1995, Microsoft introduces Internet Explorer to the world as part of Windows 95. Gates begins to shift Microsoft's focus toward the emerging Internet. May, 1998. Microsoft faces lawsuit. The U.S. Justice Department charges Microsoft with engaging in anti-competitive and exclusionary practices designed to maintain its monopoly in personal computer operating systems and to extend that monopoly to Internet browsing software. May, 2000. Steps down as Microsoft CEO. Gates steps down as CEO of Microsoft. Gates' former Harvard doormate and right-hand man, Steve Ballmer, takes over the helm, while Gates becomes a chief software architect. July, 2005. Honoring Bill Gates. Queen Elizabeth II bestows an honorary knighthood on Gates for his contributions to the United Kingdom. Time names him a Person of the Year along with Melinda Gates and Bono for what the magazine called his Good Samaritan work. December, 2007. Gates graduates from Harvard after dropping out. The university awards him with an honorary degree. Gates gives the commencement speech, encouraging the graduates to strive for social change. Humanity's greatest advances are not in its discoveries, but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity. February, 2014. Microsoft to philanthropy. Gates stepped down as chairman of Microsoft and currently serves as an advisor to support CEO Satya Nadella. He dedicated himself to Bill and Melinda Foundation and focused on global issues of climate change, global health and development, and education. March, 2020. All I care about is the world. Bill Gates is currently the fourth richest in the world with a worth of $123 billion. On March 13, 2020, Gates left his board positions at Berkshire Hathaway and Microsoft to dedicate himself to his philanthropic endeavors. In 2011, Gates says, In fact, if you gave me a choice of picking the next 10 presidents or having energy be a quarter as expensive and environmentally friendly, which one could improve things better, I'd pick the energy thing.