Bill Gates
American Entrepreneur and Philanthropist · 1955–present
Co-founder of Microsoft who helped shape personal computing and later became a major global philanthropist.
William Henry Gates III, known as Bill Gates, was born in Seattle in 1955. He became interested in computing as a schoolboy and later attended Harvard University, leaving without graduating. In 1975 he co-founded Microsoft with Paul Allen. Gates helped build the company around software for personal computers, including the MS-DOS and Windows eras, and served as chief executive, chairman and chief software architect at different points. Microsoft’s growth made him one of the best-known figures of the personal-computing industry, while the company also faced major antitrust scrutiny in the United States and Europe.
From the 2000s, Gates increasingly focused on philanthropy. He and Melinda French Gates established the foundation that became the Gates Foundation, supporting work in global health, development and education. He stepped away from day-to-day work at Microsoft in 2008 and left its board in 2020. He has also backed climate and clean-energy initiatives through Breakthrough Energy and helped launch the Giving Pledge with Melinda French Gates and Warren Buffett.
Quotations
Selected works
An open letter arguing that unauthorised software copying undermines payment for developers and discourages investment in software for computer hobbyists.
An oral history interview tracing Gates’s early computing experiences, Microsoft’s development, the personal computer industry and his expectations for computing’s future.
A wide-ranging interview on Microsoft, software competition, emerging digital networks, management, personal wealth, and Gates’s expectations for the information age.
An internal Microsoft memo arguing that the rapidly expanding Internet required major changes to the company’s products, services, and competitive strategy.
An examination of the emerging digital information age, predicting how personal computing and networks would transform communication, work, education, commerce, and society.
An examination of how digital information systems can improve decision-making, customer service, organisational responsiveness, and competitive performance.
An essay arguing that artificial intelligence poses serious near-term risks that can be mitigated through technology, regulation, adaptation, and public understanding.
A memoir of Gates's childhood, education, early fascination with computers, partnership with Paul Allen, and the beginnings of Microsoft.
An outlook on global progress in 2026, examining aid, innovation, inequality, climate, healthcare, education, and the disruptive effects of artificial intelligence.