Bill Gates
Born 1955 · Age 71
Co-founder of Microsoft, technology pioneer and philanthropist; longtime leader at Microsoft and co-founder/chair of the Gates Foundation and multiple energy, investment and research ventures.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Seattle, Washington
William Henry Gates III born to William H. Gates Sr. and Mary Maxwell Gates in Seattle.
Home damaged by tornado
Family home in Sand Point, Seattle was damaged by a rare tornado; childhood event noted in biography.
Enrolled at Lakeside School; first exposure to computers
Entered Lakeside Prep; school acquired a Teletype terminal and Gates wrote a tic-tac-toe program in BASIC.
Banned from CCC for exploiting bugs
Gates, Paul Allen and peers were temporarily banned from Computer Center Corporation for exploiting bugs to get free computer time.
Automated Lakeside class-scheduling system
Worked with Kent Evans to build the school's scheduling software; earned computer time and royalties.
Served as a congressional page
Served as a page in the U.S. House of Representatives during high school.
Co-founded Traf-O-Data
Formed Traf‑O‑Data with Paul Allen to build traffic counters based on the Intel 8008 processor; venture generated early revenue.
Graduated Lakeside School and enrolled at Harvard
Graduated as a National Merit Scholar with a 1590 SAT and enrolled at Harvard University in autumn 1973.
Summer at Honeywell with Paul Allen
Worked with Paul Allen at Honeywell during the summer while at Harvard; maintained close collaboration.
Dropped out of Harvard to pursue software
Took leave from Harvard to work on software projects; soon after co-founded Microsoft with Paul Allen.
First Microsoft employees hired (Ric Weiland)
Microsoft's first employee hires included high-school collaborator Ric Weiland as the company grew from a small partnership.
Worked at MITS; developed Altair BASIC
Worked with Paul Allen at MITS (Albuquerque) on an Altair BASIC interpreter and demonstrated an emulator and interpreter to MITS.
Published 'An Open Letter to Hobbyists'
Argued against software piracy in a widely read letter in the MITS newsletter.
Registered 'Microsoft' trade name
Microsoft trade name registered with the New Mexico Secretary of State (dropped the hyphen).
Microsoft moved to Bellevue, Washington
Relocated company from Albuquerque to Bellevue; company growth accelerated.
IBM approached Microsoft about software for IBM PC
IBM sought BASIC and eventually an operating system for the IBM PC; initial contact in July 1980.
Acquired and adapted 86‑DOS; delivered PC DOS to IBM for $50,000
Microsoft licensed 86‑DOS from SCP, adapted it for IBM and delivered it as PC DOS for a one-time fee of $50,000; retained rights to license MS‑DOS to others.
Microsoft re-incorporated; Gates becomes president & chairman
Company restructured in Washington state; Gates named president and chairman of the board.
Paul Allen left Microsoft
Paul Allen resigned after a Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis, ending the formal co-leadership (they later reconciled personally).
Launched Microsoft Windows 1.0
First retail version of Microsoft Windows launched to compete with GUI-based systems like Apple's Macintosh.
Microsoft initial public offering (IPO)
Microsoft went public with an IPO priced at $21 per share; Gates became a millionaire and retained a large ownership stake.
Became world's then-youngest billionaire
Following Microsoft stock increases, Gates became a billionaire (age 31).
Founded Corbis (Branded Entertainment Network predecessor)
Founded Corbis, a digital image licensing and rights services company (later rebranded as Branded Entertainment Network).
Introduced Microsoft Office suite
Microsoft began bundling productivity applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) under Office, a major product milestone.
Windows 3.0 commercial success
Windows 3.0 sold rapidly (100,000 copies in two weeks) and helped cement Microsoft's OS dominance.
Married Melinda French
Married Melinda French; she later became co-chair of their philanthropic foundation.
Personal Microsoft stock donation to family foundation
Donated Microsoft stock in 1994 to create the William H. Gates Foundation (personal philanthropic giving began to scale).
Published 'The Road Ahead' and became top-ranked wealthy person
Published bestselling book 'The Road Ahead'; Forbes began ranking Gates among the world's wealthiest (he later topped lists).
Founded Cascade Investment (approx.)
Established Cascade Investment LLC, a private investment and holding company controlled by Gates (widely reported mid-1990s).
Published 'Business @ the Speed of Thought'; became first centibillionaire
Published business book and briefly became the first centibillionaire (net worth surpassed US$100 billion).
Named among Time's 100 most influential people of the 20th century
Time magazine included Gates in its list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century (1999).
Stepped down as Microsoft CEO; co-founded Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Handed CEO role to Steve Ballmer, became chief software architect; combined family foundations and donated stock valued at ~$5 billion to form the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Named Time Person(s) of the Year (with Melinda Gates and Bono)
Time magazine recognized Gates and Melinda (and Bono) for philanthropy and global health initiatives.
Co-founded TerraPower (approx.)
Gates co-founded TerraPower to develop advanced nuclear reactor designs to tackle climate change (founding year widely reported as mid-2000s).
Announced transition away from day-to-day Microsoft duties
Announced plan to shift focus to philanthropy; divided responsibilities and began transition out of daily operations.
Received honorary degree from Harvard
Awarded an honorary degree (law) from Harvard University in recognition of his accomplishments.
Completed transition from full-time Microsoft work
Last full day at Microsoft; continued as chairman and in advisory roles while focusing increasingly on philanthropy.
Co-founded The Giving Pledge with Warren Buffett
Announced the Giving Pledge encouraging billionaires to commit at least half their wealth to charity.
Launched 'Reinvent the Toilet Challenge' via Gates Foundation
Foundation launched a program to develop sanitation technologies for low-resource settings.
Stepped down as Microsoft chairman; became technology advisor
Stepped aside as chairman and moved to a technology advisory role to support new CEO Satya Nadella.
Founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures; honored with Padma Bhushan
Started Breakthrough Energy (fund for clean-energy startups) and received India's Padma Bhushan (Jan 26, 2015).
Committed $1B to Breakthrough Energy
Publicly committed $1 billion of personal funds to Breakthrough Energy initiative to finance clean energy innovation (part of broader commitments).
Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom
Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (jointly with Melinda) for philanthropic work.
Corbis Images sold (Jan 2016)
Corbis Images (digital photo library) was sold to a Chinese firm in January 2016 (Corbis later rebranded as BEN).
Paul Allen's death (longtime friend/co-founder)
Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder and Gates's childhood friend, died in October 2018; Gates publicly mourned the loss.
Admitted biggest mistake: losing mobile OS to Android; joined Bloomberg New Economy Forum advisory board
Publicly reflected that losing the mobile OS race was Microsoft's biggest mistake; joined advisory board of Bloomberg New Economy Forum.
Provided most funding (~$12M) for SCoPEx geoengineering research
Provided most of $12 million supporting SCoPEx 'sun-dimming' geoengineering research through David Keith's projects.
Launched COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator (via Gates Foundation)
Foundation established an accelerator to speed development and evaluation of COVID-19 therapeutics.
Resigned from Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway boards
Left the boards of Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway to focus full-time on philanthropic work (climate, health, education).
Announced divorce from Melinda French Gates
Bill and Melinda Gates announced separation after 27 years of marriage; divorce finalized in August 2021.
Published 'How to Prevent the Next Pandemic'
Published the book outlining lessons from COVID‑19 and recommendations to prevent future pandemics.
Honorary doctorate, Northern Arizona University commencement
Delivered commencement address and was given an honorary doctorate; spoke on climate and innovation.
Melinda French Gates resigns as co-chair; foundation renamed Gates Foundation
Following the couple's divorce and Melinda's later resignation as co-chair, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was renamed the Gates Foundation with Gates as sole chair.
Published memoir 'Source Code: My Beginnings'
Published the first volume of a planned three-volume memoir recounting his early life and formative years.
Forbes net worth estimate (May 2025)
Forbes reported Gates's net worth at US$115.1 billion, ranking him the thirteenth-richest person in the world (May 2025).
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