Bill Gates Story to Success
William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955, Seattle), better known simply as Bill Gates – American entrepreneur, co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, creator of the Windows operating system.
Between 1996 and 2007, he was the richest man on the planet, according to Forbes magazine. Currently, he has a fortune of $58 billion.
He loves cars, motorboats, and a game of poker.
He is excited about his work to the point of manic, and his passion for competition attracts him more money.
He never ate at home because he didn’t want to waste time cooking.
This humble, even shy, and slightly absurd child dreamed of becoming a professor of mathematics and was nothing like his father – a tall handsome, successful lawyer. Despite his unique abilities in math and logic, Bill Gates did not show leadership abilities peculiar to his parents. They had no idea that their son would become a real shark in world business.
Together with Paul Allen, he founded Microsoft Corporation, which he left in June 2008.
Gates was born in Seattle, Washington, in the family of corporate lawyer William Henry Gates III and a board member of the First Interstate Bank, Pacific Northwest Bell, and the national board of United Way Mary Maxwell Gates.
Gates studied at Seattle’s most privileged school, where he was able to develop his programming skills on the school’s minicomputer. At school, Gates failed in grammar, civic studies, and other subjects he considered trivial but received the highest marks in mathematics. By the end of primary school, Gates’ bad behavior began to worry about his parents and teachers so much that he was referred to a psychiatrist.
In 1973 he enrolled at Harvard University, but was expelled two years later and immediately began developing software.
In 1975, Gates and Allen founded Micro-Soft, later known as Microsoft Corporation.
On January 1, 1994, Gates married Melinda French. They have three children – Jennifer Katharine, Rory John, and Phoebe Adele.
In 1994, Gates acquired Codex Leicester, a collection of works by Leonardo da Vinci. Since 2003, this collection has been on display at the Seattle Museum of Art.
In 1998, Gates resigned as president of Microsoft Corporation, and in 2000 he resigned as chief executive officer. Both positions were taken by Steve Ballmer.
On December 14, 2004, Bill Gates joined the board of Berkshire Hathaway, thus formalizing his relationship with Warren Buffett. Berkshire Hathaway is a conglomerate that includes Geico (car insurance), Benjamin Moore (paints), and Fruit of the Loom (textiles). Gates is also on the board of Icos, the biotechnology company of Bothell.
On 2 March 2005, the British Foreign Office announced that Gates would be awarded the title of Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his contribution to British businesses and his efforts to reduce global poverty.
In 2005, Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates were named People of the Year by American Time Magazine.
Since 7 June 2007, Bill Gates has been a graduate of Harvard University. The decision to award Gates a diploma was made by the university administration.
On June 27, 2008, Bill Gates became the last Bill Gates to be named head of Microsoft. Despite this, he is not breaking with the company for good – Gates will remain chairman of the Board of Directors (but without executive powers), will deal with special projects, and will remain the largest (8.7% of Microsoft shares) holder of shares in the corporation.
In late October 2008, in Kirkland, Washington, USA, Bill Gates registered his third company, “bgC3”. Unverified sources claim that “bgC3” stands for Bill Gates Company Three. It is said to be a research center whose tasks will include providing scientific and technological services, working in the field of analytics and research, and creating and developing software and hardware.
In 1995, Bill Gates wrote the book The Road to the Future, in which he presented his views on the direction that society is taking concerning the development of information technology. In 1996, when Microsoft Corporation was refocused on Internet technology, Gates made significant adjustments to the book.
In 1999, Bill Gates wrote Business @ the Speed of Thought, a book that shows how information technology can solve business problems in an entirely new way. Of particular note is the fact that Bill Gates’ ideas fit well with the concept of lean manufacturing. In his book, Bill Gates outlined the principles of information lean logistics developed by him, drawing on the experience of its use in the Microsoft Corporation. The peculiarities of the book include the fact that the author was one of the first to suggest applying the principles of this new direction in business management for all levels of government, modernization of education (pedagogical logistics), and health care.
The book was published in 25 languages and is sold in more than 60 countries. “Business at the Speed of Thought” was highly praised by critics and was included in the bestseller lists of the New York Times, America Today, the Wall Street Journal, and the Amazon.com web server.
