Bill Gates: Biography Essay, Research Paper

Bill Gates: Biography

William H. Gates Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Microsoft Corporation

William (Bill) H. Gates is chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft

Corporation, the leading provider, worldwide, of software for the personal

computer. Microsoft had revenues of $8.6 billion for the fiscal year ending June

1996, and employs more than 20,000 people in 48 countries.

Born on October 28, 1955, Gates and his two sisters grew up in Seattle. Their

father, William H. Gates II, is a Seattle attorney. Their late mother, Mary

Gates, was a schoolteacher, University of Washington regent and chairwoman of

United Way International.

Gates attended public elementary school and the private Lakeside School. There,

he began his career in personal computer software, programming computers at age

13.

In 1973, Gates entered Harvard University as a freshman, where he lived down the

hall from Steve Ballmer, now Microsoft’s executive vice president for sales and

support. While at Harvard, Gates developed the programming language BASIC for

the first microcomputer — the MITS Altair.

In his junior year, Gates dropped out of Harvard to devote his energies to

Microsoft, a company he had begun in 1975 with Paul Allen. Guided by a

belief that the personal computer would be a valuable tool on every office

desktop and in every home, they began developing software for personal

computers.

Gates’ foresight and vision regarding personal computing have been central to

the success of Microsoft and the software industry. Gates is actively involved

in key management and strategic decisions at Microsoft, and plays an important

role in the technical development of new products. A significant portion of his

time is devoted to meeting with customers and staying in contact with Microsoft

employees around the world through e-mail.

Under Gates’ leadership, Microsoft’s mission is to continually advance and

improve software technology and to make it easier, more cost-effective and more

enjoyable for people to use computers. The company is committed to a long-term

view, reflected in its investment of more than $2 billion on research and

development in the current fiscal year.

As of December 12, 1996, Gates’ Microsoft stock holdings totaled 282,217,980

shares.

In 1995, Gates wrote The Road Ahead, his vision of where information technology

will take society. Co-authored by Nathan Myhrvold, Microsoft’s chief technology

officer, and Peter Rinearson, The Road Ahead held the No. 1 spot on the New York

Times’ bestseller list for seven weeks. Published in the U.S. by Viking, the

book was on the NYT list for a total of 18 weeks. Published in more than 20

countries, the book sold more than 400,000 copies in China alone. In 1996, while

redeploying Microsoft around the Internet, Gates thoroughly revised The Road

Ahead to reflect his view that interactive networks are a major milestone in

human history. The paperback second edition has also become a bestseller. Gates

is donating his proceeds from the book to a non-profit fund that supports

teachers worldwide who are incorporating computers into their classrooms.

In addition to his passion for computers, Gates is interested in

biotechnology. He sits on the board of the Icos Corporation and is a

shareholder in Darwin Molecular, a subsidiary of British-based

Chiroscience. He also founded Corbis Corporation, which is developing

one of the largest resources of visual information in the world?a

comprehensive digital archive of art and photography from public and

private collections around the globe. Gates also has invested with

cellular telephone pioneer Craig McCaw in Teledesic, a company that is

working on an ambitious plan to launch hundreds of low-orbit satellites

around the globe to provide worldwide two-way broadband telecommunications

service.

In the decade since Microsoft has gone public, Gates has donated more than $270

million to charities, including $200 million to the William H. Gates Foundation.

The focus of Gates’ giving is in three areas: education, population issues and

access to technology.

Gates was married on Jan. 1, 1994 to Melinda French Gates. They have one child,

Jennifer Katharine Gates, born in 1996.

Gates is an avid reader and enjoys playing golf and bridge.