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Bill Gates

Bill Gates

Bill Gates is an entrepreneur, technologist, author, investor, and philanthropist. He is the founder of Breakthrough Energy and a co-founder of The Giving Pledge, Microsoft Corporation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

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Overview

Bill Gates is an entrepreneur, technologist, business leader, and author. He co-founded Microsoft in 1975 and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000 and is an active investor and philanthropist.

In 2010, he co-founded The Giving Pledge with Melinda French Gates and Warren Buffett in an effort to encourage the world’s wealthiest families and individuals to publicly commit more than half of their wealth to philanthropic causes and charitable organizations during their lifetime or in their will. In 2015, he founded Breakthrough Energy, which works to address climate change by supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs, big thinkers, and clean technologies. He has also invested in dozens of companies, including Canadian National Railway and AutoNation, and is one of the largest owners of farmland in the US. He is the fourth richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $136 billion as of March 2022.

Microsoft

In 1975, Bill Gates started "Micro-soft" with his childhood friend Paul Allen. Their vision was to put a “a computer on every desktop and in every home.” Soon after founding the company in Albuquerque, New Mexico, they renamed it Microsoft and moved it to Washington state. Gates was still a student at Harvard University at the time, but dropped out after the fall semester of 1976 to dedicate his time to the company.

Gates led the company to become the worldwide leader in business and personal software and served as CEO and chairman. In 2000, Gates announced he was stepping down as CEO, but remained on as chairman and chief software architect. In 2008, Gates left his daily job at Microsoft, and in 2014, he left as chairman but remained on the board. In March 2020, Gates resigned from the board but said "Microsoft will always be an important part of my life’s work and I will continue to be engaged with Satya and the technical leadership to help shape the vision and achieve the company’s ambitious goals."

Breakthrough Energy

Bill Gates founded Breakthrough Energy in 2015, along with a coalition of private investors concerned about the impacts of accelerating climate change. Breakthrough Energy is focused on innovations that will lead the world to net-zero emissions by 2050. Breakthrough Energy is a network of entities and initiatives that include investment funds, non-profit and philanthropic programs, and policy efforts.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates started their charitable foundation in 2000. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a non-profit fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world and has granted more than $60 billion in aid. Gates serves as co-chair of the Board of Trustees.

The Giving Pledge

Bill Gates co-founded The Giving Pledge in August 2010, with Melinda French Gates and Warren Buffett. The Giving Pledge is a movement of ultra-wealthy philanthropists who commit to give the majority of their wealth to charitable causes, either during their lifetimes or in their wills. At its outset, forty of America’s wealthiest people made a commitment to give the majority of their wealth. It began in the United States and has since grown worldwide.

Books

Bill Gates has written the following books:

  • How to Prevent the Next Pandemic (May 3, 2022)
  • How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need (February 16, 2021)
  • Business @ the Speed of Thought: Succeeding in the Digital Economy (March 1, 1999)
  • The Road Ahead (November 24, 1995)
Personal Life

Bill Gates married Melinda French Gates on January 1, 1994. They have three children, Rory, Pheobe, and Jennifer. They divorced on August 2, 2021, after twenty-seven years of marriage.

Early Life

Bill Gates was born William Henry Gates III on October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington. His father, William Henry Gates, Sr., was a lawyer, and his mother, Mary Gates, was a teacher. Gates grew up in Seattle with his two sisters and friend Paul Allen and attended Lakeside School, where he used his first computer. In 1973, Gates started college at Harvard University. He dropped out to start Microsoft with his childhood friend, Paul Allen. In 2007, he was awarded an honorary degree from Harvard University.

Timeline

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Invested in

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Patents

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Further Resources

Title
Author
Link
Type
Date

Bill Gates and Rashida Jones Ask Big Questions

Bill Gates

https://www.gatesnotes.com/podcast?msclkid=ebf17800b10e11ec83c812b82ec62189

Web

Bill Gates: The 2021 60 Minutes interview

https://youtu.be/bNKdlnoAqIs

Web

February 14, 2021

Bill Gates's Heroes in the Field: Kakenya Ntaiya

https://youtu.be/J8jxj2LvK3c

Web

January 24, 2022

Harvard Commencement speaker Mark Zuckerberg asks Bill Gates for advice

https://youtu.be/yqr6yLyuHQA

Web

March 7, 2017

Meet the Investor Who Made Bill Gates $50 Billion | A Michael Larson Documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJeOmh55JZU

Web

February 20, 2022

References

gatesnotes.com
nndb.com/people/435/000022369
Is a
Investor
Investor
Person
Person

Person attributes

Birthdate
October 28, 1955
Birthplace
United States
United States
Nationality
United States
United States
Founder of
Cascade Investment Group
Cascade Investment Group
Microsoft
Microsoft
Branded Entertainment Network
Branded Entertainment Network
Breakthrough Energy Ventures
Breakthrough Energy Ventures
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
TerraPower
TerraPower
-1
Author of
How to Prevent the Next Pandemic (Bill Gates book)
How to Prevent the Next Pandemic (Bill Gates book)
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster (Bill Gates book)
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster (Bill Gates book)
The Road Ahead (Bill Gates book)
The Road Ahead (Bill Gates book)
Business @ the Speed of Thought (Bill Gates book)
Business @ the Speed of Thought (Bill Gates book)
Owner of
Bill Gates's house
Bill Gates's house
Branded Entertainment Network
Branded Entertainment Network
Codex Leicester
Codex Leicester
Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway
Creator of
Microsoft
Microsoft
Location
Seattle
Seattle
Educated at
Harvard College
Harvard College
‌
Lakeside School (Seattle)
-1
Harvard University
Harvard University
Awards Received
‌
Time 100
‌
Presidential Medal of Freedom
Occupation
Programmer
Programmer
Investor
Investor
Computer scientist
Computer scientist
‌
Financier
‌
Philanthropist
Scientist
Scientist
Entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
Wellfound ID
bill-gates

Other attributes

AngelList URL
angel.co/bill-gates
Birth Name
William Henry Gates III
Child
Jennifer Gates
Jennifer Gates
Citizenship
United States
United States
Father
William Henry Gates Sr.
William Henry Gates Sr.
Known for
Co-founder of Microsoft and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Member of Board of Directors of
TerraPower
TerraPower
-1
Mother
Mary Maxwell Gates
Mary Maxwell Gates
Short Name
Bill Gates
Subsidiary
Cascade Investment Group
Cascade Investment Group
Branded Entertainment Network
Branded Entertainment Network
Wikidata ID
Q5284

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