Fortune, Microsoft, foundation… all about Bill Gates

Bill Gates is a computer scientist who has become, thanks to his genius, one of the most influential businessmen of our time. He revolutionized the world of tech and is today the 4th richest person in the world. Business Cool makes you discover who is behind Microsoft, the tech giant.

Who is Bill Gates? The biography of this genius!

Who is Bill Gates? Bill Gates, or William Henry Gates III by his Christian name, was born on October 28, 1955 in Seattle, United States. Her father was a business lawyer and her mother a professor at the University of Washington. He discovered computers at the private school of Lakeside, still in Seattle, thanks to one of these gigantic computers of the 60s. He began programming very early and launched his first game at the age of 13 with his childhood friend, Paul Allen. The two children were already reoptimizing software at this age.

In 1973, Bill Gates entered Harvard University as a freshman. His studies are limited to this first year only. However, this short time during which he attends classes has allowed him to make decisive encounters for the rest of his career. It was at this time that he met Steve Ballmer, who a few years later would become the future boss of Microsoft until 2014.

A pioneer in the field of microcomputing, Bill Gates created the company Microcomputer Software, with his childhood friend Paul Allen, at the age of 20. The computer genius then devoted all of his time to the development of the very first computer language working with the Altair 8800 consumer microcomputer. The first software from the Micro-Soft company was Altair BASIC. The two accomplices make a fortune thanks to this revolutionary invention.

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Bill Gates: Key dates

1955: Birth of William Henry Gates III in Seattle.

1975: Bill Gates and Paul Allen name their company Microsoft

1981: Microsoft receives the title of corporation officially in the state of Washington.

1985: Microsoft releases the first consumer version of Windows.

1986: Microsoft goes public, one day after Oracle's public offering.

2000: Bill Gates resigns as Microsoft's CEO.

2000: Creation of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

2003: Microsoft pays its first dividend.

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The birth of Microsoft

The early 1980s were marked by a runaway success for Microsoft, launched at the time by Bill Gates and his friend Paul Allen. The two friends marked the real consumer revolution in microcomputing. The company designed for IBM the famous MS-DOS, an operating system dedicated to personal computers.

This is when the sale of personal computers and the first versions of Windows exploded. Microsoft has become an essential pillar of the tech sector. Thanks to this dazzling success, Bill Gates is very quickly in the spotlight and, at the same time, on the podium of the richest personalities in the world according to the annual ranking of Forbes magazine.

The two founders are constantly innovating, becoming essential and waging a merciless war against their main competitor: Steve Jobs, founder of Apple. In 1986, Bill Gates became a billionaire when his company was just going public.

In 1995, Bill Gates released his bestselling book, “The Road to the Future“. He recounts his vision of the future world, the explosion of new technologies and the importance of information. It was in 2008 that the billionaire gradually began to break away from his Microsoft company and devote more time to his humanitarian foundation Bill & Melinda Gates, created in 2000. Its primary objective is to contribute to the democratization of the innovations needed to improve health and the acquisition of knowledge by the entire population.

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Bill Gates and his foundation

Bill Gates is a man driven by strong values ​​and extraordinary generosity. He had indeed announced his desire to bequeath 95% of his fortune to fight against disease and illiteracy in the Third World. In 2010, many billionaires followed suit and also promised to donate at least 50% of their personal wealth.

In January 2000, Bill Gates and Melinda Gates established the Bill & Melinda Gates, which today is the largest private charitable foundation in the world. According to Forbes, Bill Gates donated $35.8 billion (29.8 billion euros) in Microsoft stock to the Bill & Melinda Gates.

Bill Gates' primary goals with this foundation are to improve health care and reduce poverty around the world. In the United States, the foundation's main ambition is to expand access to education and information technology. The foundation is led by three of its directors: Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

As of 2017, the foundation is investing large sums to conduct studies on the progress made in the fight against malnutrition, infant mortality and serious illnesses such as HIV. Today, Bill and Melinda will remain co-presidents and administrators of their organization even after their divorce.

In addition to the actions carried out by his foundation, Bill Gates has invested in many other philanthropic actions or actions focused on innovation and health. For example, he has made large donations to research to contribute to the advancement of Alzheimer's disease.

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Bill Gates' fortune

Most of Bill Gates' fortune comes from Cascade Investment, a holding company created with proceeds from the sales and dividends of Microsoft stock . The company is based in Kirkland in the United States and is administratively attached to the Bill & Melinda Gates through a trust.

Although Bill Gates made his fortune by co-founding Microsoft with Paul Allen, he only owned 1.3% (equivalent to $16 billion) of the company. Yet his fortune still stands at $138 billion as of Monday, November 8, according to Bloomberg. This share has decreased significantly, since he owned 45% 35 years ago. If he had kept his shares, however, he would be at the head of a fortune of 1.2 trillion dollars, but he decided to diversify his portfolio on the advice of his friend Warren Buffett.

Despite decisions that are not always very judicious, he remains the 4th richest person in the world, even after giving away $41 billion to charities for years.

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