Bill Gates – A Modern Technology Success
Harley Dixon Bill Gates has been among the top 3 richest people in the world for the past two decades, with Microsoft being one of the largest companies throughout the globe.
While other billionaires tend to be shrouded in some mystery and often seemingly uncaring, Bill Gates has proven to be an international philanthropist, and has donated the majority of his fortunes to helping those in need. From starting out in his garage to building the behemoth that is Microsoft, Bill Gates has led an interesting and successful life.
Where It All Started
Gates was born in 1955, in Seattle, Washington. He was the son of a successful lawyer, and his mother served as a member of the board of directors for the First Interstate Bank, as well as The United Way, making them a wealthy family.
Gates excelled in both science and maths while he was in school, and was fascinated by software programming by the time he was 13 years old. He began to program more often with his school friends, and worked for the Computer Center Corporation.
In 1970, Gates, along with Paul Allen, created their own venture named Traf-O-Data, where they created traffic counters that made use of the Intel 8008 processor. Three years later and Gates would enrol at Harvard University, where he would meet future partner Steve Ballmer. They developed a new programming language for the Altair 8800, which was one of the world’s first microcomputers.
The Forming of Microsoft
Gates didn’t remain in university for long, and soon left Harvard to created “Micro-Soft” which would then go on to become the Microsoft Corporation, which he formed with Allen. They team began to licence their MS-DOS operating systems to create PC clones.
It proved to be an immediate hit among consumers, and Microsoft made a name for itself within a few years, with their popularity exploding thanks to the development of their own graphical user interface for their DOS OS, which they named Windows.
His Later Successes
Windows would go on to become the primary operating system for most computers around the world after Gates worked hard to ensure that most new PCs would ship with the operating system pre-installed.
It was another huge success for the company, and would make Microsoft the biggest corporation in the world, and make Gates the richest man in the world for many years to come, boasting the kind of money that most could only see through Aussie sports betting.
Some years later, in 2008, Gates announced that he would only maintain a part-time role with the company that he created, and would instead focus on his own philanthropic work. Since around 2000, Gates has given a third of his wealth to charity, while an even larger portion has gone into the research and development sector that he and his wife started.
Together, they have worked on providing food and aid to those in need, while also working on cures for such diseases as Malaria, where they’ve made serious breakthroughs in recent years.