William Henry Gates III
October 28, 1955
Co-founder & Chairman of Microsoft
Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
CEO of Cascade Investment
Chairman of Corbis
Director in Berkshire Hathaway
William (Bill) H. Gates is chairman of Microsoft Corporation, the worldwide software giants.
Born on Oct. 28, 1955, Gates grew up in Seattle with his two sisters. Gates attended public elementary school and the private Lakeside School. There, he discovered his interest in software and began programming computers at age 13. In 1973, Gates entered Harvard University as a freshman. While at Harvard, Gates developed a version of the programming language BASIC for the first microcomputer - the MITS Altair. In his junior year, Gates left Harvard to devote his energies to Microsoft, a company he had begun in 1975 with his childhood friend Paul Allen. Guided by a belief that the computer would be a valuable tool on every office desktop and in every home, they began developing software for personal computers. In 1999, Gates wrote "Business @ the Speed of Thought", a book that shows how computer technology can solve business problems in fundamentally new ways. Gates' previous book, "The Road Ahead", was published in 1995.Microsoft launched its first retail version of Microsoft Windows on November 20, 1985. Gates gained a reputation for being distant to others; as early as 1981 an industry executive complained in public that "Gates is notorious for not being reachable by phone and for not returning phone calls. He often interrupted presentations with such comments as, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" and, "Why don't you just give up your options and join the Peace Corps?"
When subordinates appeared to be procrastinating, he was known to remark sarcastically, "I'll do it over the weekend." In the 1998 United States vs Microsoft case, Gates gave deposition testimony that several journalists characterized as evasive. He argued with examiner David Boies over the contextual meaning of words such as, "compete", "concerned", and "we". Gates also appeared in a series of ads to promote Microsoft in 2008.
In addition to his love of computers and software, Gates founded Corbis, which is developing one of the world's largest resources of visual information - a comprehensive digital archive of art and photography from public and private collections around the globe. He is also a member of the board of directors of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which invests in companies engaged in diverse business activities.
Gates was married on Jan. 1, 1994, to Melinda French Gates. They have three children. Gates is an avid reader, and enjoys playing golf, tennis and bridge.
The family resides in The Gates's home, an earth-sheltered house in the side of a hill overlooking Lake Washington in Medina.
His 66,000 sq ft estate has a 60-foot (18 m) swimming pool with an underwater music system, as well as a 2,500 sq ft gym and a 1,000 sq ft dining room. In 1999, his wealth briefly surpassed $101 billion, causing the media to call Gates a "centibillionaire". In 1997, he bought a private jet. In 1987, Gates was listed as a billionaire in the pages of Forbes' 400 Richest People in America issue, just days before his 32nd birthday. As the world's youngest self-made billionaire, he was worth $1.25 billion, over $900 million more than he'd been worth the year before, when he'd debuted on the list. In a May 2006 interview, Gates commented that he wished that he were not the richest man in the world because he disliked the attention it brought. In 2011, Bill Gates was ranked as the fifth most powerful person in the world, according to rankings by Forbes magazine.Since leaving day-to-day operations at Microsoft, he and his wife, Melinda, started a foundation in 2000 to help reduce inequities in the United States and around the world. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation supports philanthropic initiatives in the areas of global health and learning, with the hope that in the 21st century, advances in these critical areas will be available for all people.
Gospels
- Gates graduated high school in 1973 and scored 1590 of 1600 on the SAT.
- Gates told his university teachers he would be a millionaire by age 30. He became a billionaire at age 31.
- He began programming computers at age 13.
- By the age of 17, Gates had sold his first computer program, a time-tabling system for his high school, for $4,200.
- Bill Gates earns US$250 every SECOND, that’s about US$20 Million a DAY and US$7.8 Billion a YEAR!
- If he drops a thousand dollar, he won’t even bother to pick it up because the 4 seconds he picks it, he would’ve already earned it back.
- The US national debt is about 5.62 trillion, if Bill Gates were to pay the debt by himself; he will finish it in less then 10 years.
- He can donate US$15 to everyone on earth but still be left with US $5 Million for his pocket money.
- If Bill Gates was a country, he would be the 37th richest country on earth.
- Michael Jordan is the highest paid athlete in US. If he doesn’t drink and eat, and keeps up his annual income i.e. US$30 Million, he’ll have to wait for 277 years to become as rich as Bill Gates is now.
- If you change all of Bill Gate’s money to US$1 notes, you can make a road from earth to moon, 14 times back and forth.
- His kids like to tease him by singing the song "Billionaire" by Travie McCoy and Bruno Mars.
- He's now given $28 billion to charity.
- His three children, currently aged 15, 12 and nine, will reportedly inherit $10 million each.
- People in Third World countries have no idea who he is. "They don't know who I am, because it doesn't relate to their world. I went to one place with the chief minister and someone said, 'Who is this guy?', and the chief minister said, 'This is a white-skinned guy I brought with me.'"
- He has a Twitter account, but had a problem with Facebook: "... Because the friend requests got out of hand."
The Controversy: Gates Arrested!
It took the world by shock when recently news started flowing in the web about Bill Gates arrest.
There was news all around that George Bush Senior and Bill Gates were arrested last week for sabotaging the new financial system after being fingered by Timothy Geithner, pentagon sources say[1]. However, there are no concrete evidence of Gates arrest.
Earlier, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation came under scanner when it had bought 500,000 Monsanto shares worth around $23m. "Monsanto has a history of blatant disregard for the interests and well being of small farmers around the world… [This] casts serious doubt on the foundation's heavy funding of agricultural development in Africa,", thundered the Seattle-based Agra Watch - a project of the Community Alliance for Global Justice . There are genuine concerns if Gates is being hopelessly naive by backing one of the world's most aggressive agri-giants?
The foundation has been alleged of spending billions of dollars in the name of humanitarianism to establish a global food monopoly dominates by genetically-modified (GM) crops and seeds. Some say Gates' endeavors are all about money, while others say they are about power and control.
There was news all around that George Bush Senior and Bill Gates were arrested last week for sabotaging the new financial system after being fingered by Timothy Geithner, pentagon sources say[1]. However, there are no concrete evidence of Gates arrest.
Earlier, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation came under scanner when it had bought 500,000 Monsanto shares worth around $23m. "Monsanto has a history of blatant disregard for the interests and well being of small farmers around the world… [This] casts serious doubt on the foundation's heavy funding of agricultural development in Africa,", thundered the Seattle-based Agra Watch - a project of the Community Alliance for Global Justice . There are genuine concerns if Gates is being hopelessly naive by backing one of the world's most aggressive agri-giants?
The foundation has been alleged of spending billions of dollars in the name of humanitarianism to establish a global food monopoly dominates by genetically-modified (GM) crops and seeds. Some say Gates' endeavors are all about money, while others say they are about power and control.
Gates is Gates
- If you can't make it good, at least make it look good.
- Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.
- Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
- It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.
- Information technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven. I don't think anybody can talk meaningfully about one without the talking about the other.
- If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.
- I believe that if you show people the problems and you show them the solutions they will be moved to act.
- As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.
References: Wikipedia; microsoft.com; [1]benjaminfulford.net; naturalnews.com; guardian.co.uk; factspy.net
Photos Courtesy: Google Images
Photos Courtesy: Google Images