Entrepreneur and
businessman Bill Gates and his business partner Paul Allen founded and built the world's
largest software business, Microsoft, through technological innovation, keen
business strategy and aggressive business tactics. In the process, Gates became
one of the richest men in the world. In February 2014, Gates announced that he
was stepping down as Microsoft's chairman to focus on charitable work at his
foundation
Early
Life style
Gates
was born William Henry Gates III on October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington.
Gates grew up in an upper-middle-class family with his older sister,
Kristianne, and younger sister, Libby. Their father, William H. Gates Sr., was
a promising, if somewhat shy, law student when he met his future wife, Mary
Maxwell. She was an athletic, outgoing student at the University of Washington,
actively involved in student affairs and leadership.
The
Gates family atmosphere was warm and close, and all three children were
encouraged to be competitive and strive for excellence. Gates showed
early signs of competitiveness when he coordinated family athletic games at
their summer house on Puget Sound. He also relished in playing board games
(Risk was his favorite) and excelled at Monopoly.
Gates had
a very close relationship with his mother, Mary, who after a brief career as a
teacher devoted her time to helping raise the children and working on civic
affairs and with charities. She also served on several corporate boards,
including those of the First Interstate Bank in Seattle (founded by her
grandfather), the United Way and International Business Machines (IBM). She
would often take Gates along when she volunteered in schools and at
community organizations.
Education
life Bill Gates’s
Gates was
a voracious reader as a child, spending many hours poring over reference books
such as the encyclopedia. Around the age of 11 or 12, Gates's parents
began to have concerns about his behavior. He was doing well in school, but he
seemed bored and withdrawn at times, and his parents worried he might become a
loner.
Though
they were strong believers in public education, when Gates turned 13,
his parents enrolled him at Seattle's exclusive preparatory Lakeside School. He
blossomed in nearly all his subjects, excelling in math and science, but also
doing very well in drama and English.
While
at Lakeside School, a Seattle computer company offered to provide computer time
for the students. The Mother's Club used proceeds from the school's rummage
sale to purchase a teletype terminal for students to use. Gates became
entranced with what a computer could do and spent much of his free time working
on the terminal. He wrote a tic-tac-toe program in BASIC computer language that
allowed users to play against the computer.
Gates
graduated from Lakeside in 1973. He scored 1590 out of 1600 on the college SAT
test, a feat of intellectual achievement that he boasted about for several
years when introducing himself to new people.
Does
he Go to College daily?
Gates
enrolled at Harvard University in the fall of 1973, originally thinking of a
career in law. Much to his parents' dismay, Gates dropped out of college
in 1975 to pursue his business, Microsoft, with partner Allen.
Gates
spent more of his time in the computer lab than in class. He did not really
have a study regimen; he got by on a few hours of sleep, crammed for a test,
and passed with a reasonable grade.
Meeting
and Partnering with Paul Allen
Gates
met Allen, who was two years his senior, in high school at Lakeside School. The
pair became fast friends, bonding over their common enthusiasm for computers,
even though they were very different people. Allen was more reserved and
shy. Gates was feisty and at times combative.
Regardless
of their differences, Allen and Gates spent much of their free time together
working on programs. Occasionally, the two disagreed and would clash over who
was right or who should run the computer lab. On one occasion, their argument
escalated to the point where Allen banned Gates from the computer lab.
At
one point, Gates and Allen had their school computer privileges revoked for
taking advantage of software glitches to obtain free computer time from the
company that provided the computers. After their probation, they were allowed
back in the computer lab when they offered to debug the program. During this
time, Gates developed a payroll program for the computer company the boys had
hacked into and a scheduling program for the school.
In
1970, at the age of 15, Gates and Allen went into business together, developing
"Traf-o-Data," a computer program that monitored traffic patterns in
Seattle. They netted $20,000 for their efforts. Gates and Allen wanted to start
their own company, but Gates' parents wanted him to finish school and go on to
college, where they hoped he would work to become a lawyer.
When
and How Bill Gates and Founding Microsoft
In
1975, Gates and Allen formed Micro-Soft, a blend of "micro-computer"
and "software" (they dropped the hyphen within a year). The company's
first product was BASIC software that ran on the Altair computer.
At
first, all was not smooth sailing. Although Microsoft’s BASIC software program
for the Altair computer netted the company a fee and royalties, it wasn't
meeting their overhead. According to Gates' later account, only about 10
percent of the people using BASIC in the Altair computer had actually paid for
it.
Microsoft's
BASIC software was popular with computer hobbyists, who obtained pre-market
copies and were reproducing and distributing them for free. At this time, many
personal computer enthusiasts were not in it for the money. They felt the ease
of reproduction and distribution allowed them to share software with friends
and fellow computer enthusiasts. Gates thought differently. He saw the free
distribution of software as stealing, especially when it involved software that
was created to be sold.
In
February 1976, Gates wrote an open letter to computer hobbyists, saying that
continued distribution and use of software without paying for it would
"prevent good software from being written." In essence, pirating
software would discourage developers from investing time and money into
creating quality software. The letter was unpopular with computer enthusiasts,
but Gates stuck to his beliefs and would use the threat of innovation as a
defense when faced with charges of unfair business practices.
Gates
had an acrimonious relationship with MITS president Ed Roberts, often resulting
in shouting matches. The combative Gates clashed with Roberts on software
development and the direction of the business. Roberts considered Gates spoiled
and obnoxious.
In
1977, Roberts sold MITS to another computer company and went back to Georgia to
enter medical school and become a doctor.
Gates
and Allen were on their own. The pair had to sue the new owner of MITS to
retain the software rights they had developed for Altair. Microsoft wrote
software in different formats for other computer companies, and, at the
beginning of 1979, Gates moved the company's operations to Bellevue,
Washington, just east of Seattle.
Gates
was glad to be home again in the Pacific Northwest and threw himself into his
work. All 25 employees of the young company had broad responsibilities for all
aspects of the operation, product development, business development and
marketing.
Although
the company started out on shaky footing, by 1979 Microsoft was grossing
approximately $2.5 million. At the age of 23, Gates placed himself as the head
of the company. With his acumen for software development and a keen business
sense, he led the company and worked as its spokesperson. Gates personally
reviewed every line of code the company shipped, often rewriting code himself
when he saw it necessary.
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