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Born
William Henry Gates III, most commonly known as Bill Gates, was born on October 28th, 1955 in Seattle, Washington. When he was around 13 years old was when he first showed his passion for computers. What people didn't know was that this young man would go on to become the world's wealthiest man and founder of the mutibillion dollar software business Microsoft. -
Early Life
BIll's parent's were worried about his behavior in his public school, so when he was 13, they placed him in a private school called, Lakeside School. It was at this school that sparked his interest in computers and where he met his future best friend and co-founder of Microsoft, Paul Allen ("Early Life of Bill Gates"). -
Creating Microsoft
Gates and Allen would pursue their interest in computers and during their college years, they would create their powerful mulitbillion dollar business, Microsoft. Starting small, they both had a huge vision in mind- a computer on every desktop and in every home. ("A History of Windows") -
Microsoft 1.0 is released
Now that Microsoft has taken off, it began to make them a lot of money. With their success and money, Bill thought of some plans for the future. He planned on using his money that he was making for the good of the less fortunate and charities. This initial released software set up their business for a brighter, more successful future, which would lead to Bill's wealth and genorosity. -
Bill Gates steps down as CEO of Microsoft
Gates steps down as CEO of Microsoft. Gates’ former Harvard dorm-mate and right-hand man Steve Ballmer takes over the helm, while Gates becomes chief software architect. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is formed, merging the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation. ("From Geek to Gazillionaire to Do-gooder") -
A Shift in Bill's life
Throughout Bill's early life up until his 40s, Microsoft has always been his main job. Bill was explaining how once he was in his 40s, he bagin to shift his attention from Microsoft to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is a charitable foundation run by him and his wife ("I have no use for my money, this is God's work"). This followed Bill stepping down as Chairman of Microsoft and showed his pursuit of a better world for others because his foundation is all about helping other poeple. -
Focusing on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
With Bill focusing more on his foundation, people can get a better image of who Bill really is as a person. He is a generous person who puts other before him which is evident in an interview he had with ted.com. . He talks about how he plans on giving away almost all of his fortune when he passes away. The money will go into his charitable -
Focusing on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Continued)
foundation. Of his 80 billion dollar networth, he will 'only' be leaving each of his children with 10 million dollars. He says that he will not make each of his kids billionaires and that he wants his kids to go out and pursue anything that they want to ("Why Giving away our wealth has been the most satisfying thing we've done"). More than 95% of his wealth will be donated after his death. -
Annual Letter to the Poeple
Every year, Bill and Melinda Gates release a letter on their foundation's website that lays out their plans for the year and states their successes of the past years. In this letter, Bill wrote about how he plans on completely eradicating polio and closing the education gap. He included graphs in the letter that showed how his donated money has changed the lives of millions of people all around the world ("Our Big Bet For The Future").
