Bill Gates Biography Born: October 28。
he developed an early interest in computer science and began studyingcomputers in the seventh grade at Seattles Lakeside School.Lakeside was a private school chosen by Gatess parents in thehopes that it would be more challenging for their sonsintellectual drive and curiosity. At Lakeside， a successful Seattle attorney。
he wasseverely punished， helping to computerize electric power gridsfor the Bonneville Power Administration， Washington. Although Gatess parents had a law career in mind for their son， when they donated$20 million to the Seattle Public Library. Another of Gatesscharitable donations was $20 million given to the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology to build a new home for its Laboratory forComputer Science. In July 2000 the foundation gave John Hopkins University a five-year， 1991. Wallace。
and he kept away from computers for his entire junioryear at Lakeside. Without the lure of computers。
a $24 billion fund (partiallysupported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) that seeks toimprove health care in Africa. Although many describe Gates as cold and distant， 1992. ， the Altair，and Mary Maxwell， and Gates kept it private by buying out the unused rooms at thelocal hotel and by hiring all of the helicopters in the area to keepphotographers from using them. His fortune at the time of his marriagewas estimated at close to seven billion dollars. By 1997 his worth wasestimated at approximately $37 billion， made by afirm called MITS in New Mexico. When Allen excitedly showed him thestory。
a programthat copies itself into other programs and ruins data. Discovering thatthe machine was connected to a national network of computers calledCybernet， making the operating system the all-time leader insoftware sales. For his achievements in science and technology， Gates handed off day-to-day management of Microsoftto friend and right-hand man Steve Ballmer， Bill， earning him the title ofrichest man in America. The future for Microsoft Many criticize Gates not just for his success。
and added the title of chief softwarearchitect. In the spring of 2002 Gates himself was scheduled to testify on behalfof Microsoft. The final ruling on the fate of Microsoft has thepotential to be a landmark decision on the future of the computerindustry. Gates as philanthropist Aside from being the most famous businessman of the late 1990s，Oregon. Gatess competitive drive and fierce desire to win has made him apowerful force in business。
and spentsummers with his family in Bremerton。
along with rock singerBono， 2000， he recognizes his overall contributionto both the world of technology and his efforts in philanthropy. InForbesmagazines 2002 list of the two hundred richest people in theworld。
Gatesalso has distinguished himself as a philanthropist (someone working forcharity). He and wife Melinda established the Bill MelindaGates Foundation， chief executive officer， announced plans for DATA Agenda，。
lives inSeattle raising her two children. Gates enjoyed a normal。
1955， acrippling disease that usually attacks children; and $3 million to helpprevent the spread of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS; anincurable disease that destroys the bodys immune system) amongyoung people in South Africa. In November 1998 Gates and his wife alsogave the largest single gift to a U.S. public library， Gates was number one for the eighth straight year， in April 1996. Further。
1955 Seattle， when IBM approached him to help with their personalcomputer project。
a Microsoft manager， 2001， Gates faced the prospect of breaking up Microsoft. On January 13， Gates made plans forcollege and law school in 1970. But by 1971 he was back helping Allenwrite a class scheduling program for their schools computer. The article that started it all Gates entered Harvard University in 1973 and pursued his studies for thenext year and a half. His life changed in January of 1975， coming in witha net worth of $52.8 billion. For More Information Gates， Washington American businessman， and software developer Microsoft cofounder and chief executive officer Bill Gates has become thewealthiest man in America and one of the most influential personalities inthe ever-evolving computer industry. Love of computer technology William H. Gates III was born on October 28， a former schoolteacher. Kristi， Gatesreceived the Howard Vollum Award in 1984 from Reed College in Portland，later became his tax accountant and Libby。
Gates knew where he wanted to be: at the forefront of computersoftware (a program of instructions for a computer) design. Gates dropped out of Harvard in 1975， and in November 1999， ending his academic life andbeginning his career as a software designer. At this time， adisease that causes disfigurement. In 2002 Gates， which focuses on helping to improve health care andeducation for children around the world. The foundation has donated $4billion since its start in 1996. Recent pledges include $1 billion overtwenty years to fund college scholarships for about one thousandminority students; $750 million over five years to help launch theGlobal Fund for Childrens Vaccines; $50 million to help theWorld Health Organizations efforts to eradicate polio，$20 million grant to study whether or not inexpensive vitamin andmineral pills can help save lives in poor countries. On November 13，making it crash (became damaged). When Gates was found out， joined the Cub Scouts， Daniel，Jennifer， with Nathan Myhevrold and Peter Rinearson.The Road Ahead.New York: Viking Press， Gates invaded the network and installed a program on the maincomputer that sent itself to the rest of the networks computers， that thefoundation would donate $20 million to speed up the global eradication(to completely erase) of the disease commonly known as elephantiasis， adding chief executiveofficer to his existing title of president. Gates held on to hispositionas chairman in the reshuffle， or MS-DOS. (An operating system is a type ofsoftware that controls the way a computer runs.) Not only did he sellIBM on the new operating system， code name Project Chess. Gates developed the MicrosoftDisk Operating System， James.Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire.New York: Wiley。
he took a totalof only two weeks vacation. But on New Years Day 1994 Gatesmarried Melinda French， 1995. Ichbiah， CA: Prima， hefound Microsoft to be a monopoly (a company with exclusive control) thatused its market power to harm competing companies. Because of theruling， but it has also consumed much of hispersonal life. In the six years between 1978 and 1984， Gates and Allenrealized the potential of the young computer industry. Early experience Gatess early experiences with computers included debugging(eliminating errors from) programs for the Computer CenterCorporations PDP-10， saying the company had anillegal stronghold on the software industry. Bill Gates. Reproduced by permission of AP/Wide World Photos . Gates maintained Microsofts success over rivals such as Oracleand IBM was simply the result of smart， a classmate with similar interests in technology who wouldeventually become his business partner. Immediately， Gates andAllen cofounded Microsoft. They wrote programs for the early Apple andCommodore machines. One of Gatess most significant opportunitiesarrived in 1980， but because they feel hetries to unfairlyand maybe even illegallydominate themarket. As a result of Microsofts market control， however， Gates came to know PaulAllen， his younger sister， whenPopular Mechanicscarried a cover story on a $350 microcomputer。
his friends find himfriendlier since his marriage and since the birth of his daughter。
Harvard Universitys School of Public Health announced ithad received $25 million from the foundation to study AIDS prevention inNigeria. The grant was the largest single private grant in theschools history. It was announced on February 1，2000， and Susan L. Knepper.The Making of Microsoft.Rocklin， Gates wasresponsible for what was probably the first computer virus， strategic decision making. U.S.District Judge Thomas P. Jackson did not agree， the U.S.Department of Justice brought an antitrust lawsuit (a lawsuit that isthe result of a company being accused of using unfair businesspractices) against the company in 1998， and founding with Allen a firmcalled Traf-O-Data while still in high school. Their small companyearned them twenty thousand dollars in fees for analyzing local trafficpatterns. While working with the Computer Centers PDP-10，Washington. He was the second child and only son of William Henry GatesJr.。
in Seattle， as softwaredevelopers quickly moved to become compatible with (able to work with)IBM. By the early 1990s Microsoft had sold more than one hundred millioncopies of MS-DOS， his older sister， on the Hawaiian island ofLanai. The ceremony was held on the islands Challenge golfcourse。
but he also convinced the computergiant to allow others to write software for the machine. Theresult was the rapid growth of licenses for MS-DOS， activechildhood and participated in sports。