From “Tic-tac-toe” to “Microsoft”; the path to triumph he foresaw to become a successful entrepreneur transformed him to a billionaire at the age of 31. Bill Gates, a savvy businessman with a passion for coding, co-founded Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) with Paul Allen on April 4, 1975. Thank you for this great man’s vision and contribution, as the world now has incredible access to PC services from the comfort of one’s own home.
Bill Gates has a long list of accomplishments in addition to founding Microsoft, the world’s largest software company with a market capitalization of $2.426 trillion. On the occasion of Bill Gates’ 66th birthday, we bring a few interesting, yet less known, facts about him.
Date of Birth: October 28, 1955
Net Worth: $135.8 Billion (As of October 2021)
- Hailing from an upper middle-class family to become the top billionaire in the United State today, is an incredible feat. Bill has always been competitive and has strived for excellence since he was a child. At his early age of thirteen years, he wrote his first software programme on a General Electric computer – “Tic-tac-toe” – which allows users play games against the computer.
- Bill Gates has always been a voracious reader. At the age of eight, he had completed the entire World Book Encyclopedia series. In his Scholastic Aptitude Test, he received a remarkable score of 1590 out of 1600. (SAT). He also excelled in all subjects, including math, science, drama, and English, but he regrets not learning any of the foreign languages.
- Bill Gates and his friend Paul Allen, both carries a different outlook. Paul Allen has a geeky image, whereas Bill Gates has a more open public persona and is well known for his notorious f-bombs rants in meetings. Their common interest in computers tied them together. In 1970, Gates and Allen formed their first joint venture, developing “Traf-O-Data”, a company that sold traffic-counting systems to local governments.
- In 1973, Bill Gates enrolled at Harvard University, intending to pursue a career in law. However, he dropped out of college in 1975 to pursue his business, Microsoft, with partner Allen.
- In November 1975, Gates and Allen co-founded Micro-Soft, a blend of “micro-computer” and “software”. Within a year, the hyphen was dropped, and on November 26, 1976, they officially registered the trade name “Microsoft.”
- Both Steve Jobs, the visionary CEO of Apple, and Bill Gates, the visionary CEO of Microsoft, spearheaded a revolution and succeeded in introducing innovation to the world, but they faced competition as each of their products excelled. In an interview, Gates revealed that he wrote a letter to Steve Jobs before he passed away, and that letter meant so much to Jobs that he kept it by his bedside.
- Bill Gates is a well-known philanthropist, and he inherited the trait of giving and charity from his father. He had a close relationship with his mother, Mary Maxwell Gates, who had a brief career as a teacher and was also active in civic affairs and fundraising for charitable causes. Bill Gates joined her in her volunteer work and often visits to community organisations.
- In 2010, the philanthropist Warren Buffet, Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates signed the “Gates-Buffet Giving Pledge.” The pledge requires them to donate at least half of their wealth to charity over time. The divine cause now has ten more billionaires who have pledged to donate a portion of their wealth to a good cause.
- Bill Gates’ philanthropy ventures are supported by his life partner Melinda Gates. They even formed the largest private foundation in the world – Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Bill Gates an inventor, investor, founder, philanthropist and many more have “Just don’t die,” on his bucket list.
- On March 13, 2020, Bill Gates stepped down from the Board of Directors of Microsoft, to devote more time to his philanthropic priorities, which include global health, development, education, and his growing involvement in combating climate change.
- After 27 years of marriage, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates got divorced in August 2021. Melinda French Gates expressed concerns about her husband’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, a harassment claim against his money manager, and an affair with an employee, prompting their split.
Once again, Happy Birthday Bill Gates: An Entrepreneur, Inventor, Investor, and Philanthropist !
The post is a part of a B’day Series where we celebrate the birthday of renowned personalities from the Tech Industry, very frequently. The series includes Entrepreneurs, C-level Executives, innovators, or renewed leaders who moved the industry with their exponential skill set and vision. The intent is to highlight the person’s achievements and touch base the little-known, but interesting, part of his life. You can see the list of all earlier celebrated tech personalities, including Mark Zuckerberg, Marissa Mayor, Sean Parker, Andy Rubin, Julian Assange, Sir Richard Branson, Sergey Brin by following this link or subscribing to your daily newsletter.
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