Bill Gates: Biography
...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...
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