BILL GATES

The man behind the computes

American computer scientist and buisinessman, founder of Microsoft. The fortune of this programmer, who did not finish his

studies and was already a multimillionaire at the age of 31, came from the success of his operatings systems.

In November 1985, Microsoft launched Windows.

By 1989, the popularity of Windows gave Microsoft a certain "army" of PC operating systems.

Since then Microsoft has had some problems because its business is based on buying smaller

companies to cover more areas of business.

Bill retired from the day-to-day operations of Microsoft in 2000, handing over the CEO position to

his college friend Steve Ballmer, who had been with the company since 1980.

Bill Gates was born into a wealthy

family on 28 October 1955 in Seattle,

Washington. That provided him with an

education at elite institutions such as

Lakeside School (1967-73) and Harvard

Bill Gates sold to Cary, the head of IBM, an operating
University (1973-77).
system that Microsoft had not developed yet. So he bought

the QDOS operating system for $50,000, then he modified

and renamed it MS-DOS and sold it for $50,000, for the

same price he bought the original version.

IBM wanted to buy the code for the system but Bill managed

to get the multinational to pay him for all the licenses he

At Lakeside School he met Paul Allen, who was two had sold.

years his elder. The two became friends fastly and

shared his enthusiasm for computers. In 1970, at the

age of fifteen, Bill Gates went into the computer

business with Paul. They developed a computer

programme that monitored traffic patterns in Seattle,

Microsoft adapted the BASIC software into different
which earned them their first big profit: twenty
formats for other computer companies, and at the end
thousand dollars.
of 1978, the operations of the company, which by then

had twenty-five young employees, were moved to East

Seattle. With his innovative vision for software

development, and at just twenty-three years of age, he

led Microsoft to earn two and a half million dollars in

1978.

In the summer of 1974, Gates went to work with his

friend at Honeywell, and during this time, he

showed him an electronics magazine where there

was an article about the Altair 8800 minicomputer,

made by a small company called Micro

Bill did not get along well with the president of
Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS). The
MITS and they often quarrelled. Roberts
two contacted the company, which was working
considered him hateful. In 1977, Roberts sold MITS
on a BASIC software program, and wanted to
The company's president, Ed Roberts, to another computer company and returned to his
know if MITS would be interested in developing
asked the boys for a demonstration and native country to become a country doctor. Gates
such software for the Altair.
they accepted the challenge; they spent and Allen continued on their own and had to sue

the next two months making the the new owner of MITS to retain the rights to the

software in a Harvard University BASIC software they had developed.

computer lab.

In 1975, they founded "Micro-Soft", a

name that comes from the terms "micro-

computer" and "software". Bill was in his

135 millons of dollars

early twenties..

"The computer was born to solve problems that didn't exist before".
HIS HOUSE

"Success is a terrible teacher. It seduces intelligent people into thinking they

can't lose".
"It's good to celebrate success, but it's more important to pay attention to the
lessons of failure".

personal life
On 1 January 1994, Melinda and Bill were married in Hawaii.

personal data In 1996, the first child of the family was born, Jennifer.

In 2000, the couple combined several of their foundations to create the larger Bill and Melinda Gates
One of the richest people in the world. Foundation, which has already donated more than $28 billion to charitable causes.
Companies: Microsoft Corporation, Berkshire Hathaway, In early 2014, Bill told Univisión that he wants to donate most of his money because it "belongs to
TerraPower... society".
Parents: William H. Gates, Sr. and Mary Maxwell In 2006 he and his wife were awarded the Order of the Aztec Eagle for their work in the areas of health
Children: Phoebe Adele, Rory John y Jennifer Katharine and education.
Name: William Henry Gates III In 2019, the Netflix platform released a documentary that tries to investigate how the mind of the genius
Height: 1.77 m Bill Gates works.