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William (Bill) H. Gates
is chairman of Microsoft Corporation, the worldwide leader in software, services
and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
Microsoft had revenues of US$51.12 billion for the fiscal year ending June 2007,
and employs more than 78,000 people in 105 countries and regions.
On June 15, 2006,
Microsoft announced that effective July 2008 Gates will transition out of a
day-to-day role in the company to spend more time on his global health and
education work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. After July 2008 Gates
will continue to serve as Microsoft’s chairman and an advisor on key development
projects. The two-year transition process is to ensure that there is a smooth
and orderly transfer of Gates’ daily responsibilities. Effective June 2006, Ray
Ozzie has assumed Gates’ previous title as chief software architect and is
working side by side with Gates on all technical architecture and product
oversight responsibilities at Microsoft. Craig Mundie has assumed the new title
of chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft and is working closely with
Gates to assume his responsibility for the company’s research and incubation
efforts.
Born on Oct. 28, 1955,
Gates grew up in Seattle with his two sisters. 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 discovered his
interest in software and began 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 chief executive officer. While at Harvard, Gates
developed a version of the programming language BASIC for the first
microcomputer - the MITS Altair.
In his junior year, Gates
left Harvard to devote his energies to Microsoft, a company he had begun in 1975
with his childhood friend Paul Allen. Guided by a belief that the computer would
be a valuable tool on every office desktop and in every home, they began
developing software for personal computers. Gates' foresight and his vision for
personal computing have been central to the success of Microsoft and the
software industry.
Under Gates' leadership,
Microsoft's mission has been to continually advance and improve software
technology, and to make it easier, more cost-effective and more enjoyable for
people to use computers. The company is committed to a long-term view, reflected
in its investment of approximately $7.1 billion on research and development in
the 2007 fiscal year.
In 1999, Gates wrote
Business @ the Speed of Thought, a book that shows how computer technology can
solve business problems in fundamentally new ways. The book was published in 25
languages and is available in more than 60 countries. Business @ the Speed of
Thought has received wide critical acclaim, and was listed on the best-seller
lists of the New York Times, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and Amazon.com.
Gates' previous book, The Road Ahead, published in 1995, held the No. 1 spot on
the New York Times' bestseller list for seven weeks.
Gates has donated the
proceeds of both books to non-profit organizations that support the use of
technology in education and skills development.
In addition to his love
of computers and software, Gates founded Corbis, which is developing one of the
world's largest resources of visual information - a comprehensive digital
archive of art and photography from public and private collections around the
globe. He is also a member of the board of directors of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.,
which invests in companies engaged in diverse business
activities.
Philanthropy is also
important to Gates. He and his wife, Melinda, have endowed a foundation with
more than $28.8 billion (as of January 2005) to support philanthropic
initiatives in the areas of global health and learning, with the hope that in
the 21st century, advances in these critical areas will be available for all
people. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has committed more than $3.6
billion to organizations working in global health; more than $2 billion to
improve learning opportunities, including the Gates Library Initiative to bring
computers, Internet Access and training to public libraries in low-income
communities in the United States and Canada; more than $477 million to community
projects in the Pacific Northwest; and more than $488 million to special
projects and annual giving campaigns.
Gates was married on Jan.
1, 1994, to Melinda French Gates. They have three children. Gates is an avid
reader, and enjoys playing golf and bridge.
Source : Some of the information
on this page came from a Wikipedia article and is licensed under the
GNU Documentation License. ©2008 www.geneticmatrix.com.
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