William Henry Gates III, born on October 28, 1955, is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist, best known for co-founding Microsoft with his childhood friend, Paul Allen. Gates played several key roles at Microsoft, including chairman, CEO, president, and chief software architect, and was its largest shareholder until 2014. A pioneer in the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and '80s, he helped shape the tech industry.

Born	William Henry Gates III, born on October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington, is 69 years old.
Education	Harvard University (Dropped out)
Occuptions	Businessman, philanthropist, computerprogrammer, writer
Years active	1972- Present
Spouse	Melinda French
Children	3
Parents	Bill Gates Sr. Mary Maxwell

Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Gates co-founded Microsoft in 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He led the company as
CEO until 2000, when Steve Ballmer took over. Gates stayed on as chairman and chief software architect, but his business practices 
during the '90s drew criticism for being anti-competitive.

In 2008, Gates shifted focus to his charitable efforts, transitioning to a part-time role at Microsoft and dedicating more time to the 
Bill& Melinda Gates Foundation, which he and his ex-wife Melinda founded in 2000. By 2014, he stepped down as chairman of
Microsoft to become a technology adviser, and in 2020, he left both Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway’s boards to focus on
philanthropy, especially in areas like climate change, global health, education, and development.

Gates has been a consistent presence on Forbes' list of billionaires since 1987, briefly becoming the world’s first centibillionaire in
1999. He has also invested in various companies, including Cascade Investment, TerraPower, and Breakthrough Energy. Through his
foundation, he has made significant contributions to global health, including campaigns to eradicate polio. In 2010, he and Warren
Buffett launched the Giving Pledge, encouraging billionaires to give away at least half their wealth to charity.

Early life and education

William Henry Gates III was born on October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington, as the only son of William H. Gates Sr. and his first 
wife, Mary Maxwell Gates. Gates comes from a family with a mix of English, German, and Irish/Scots-Irish heritage. His father was 
a successful lawyer, and his mother was a prominent figure on various boards, including First Interstate BancSystem and United 
Way of America. Gates also had an older sister, Kristi, and a younger sister, Libby. He’s known as "Trey" (three) because he’s the 
fourth William Gates in his family.

Growing up, his parents hoped he'd pursue a career in law, and the family was active in their church. Although he was smaller 
than other kids and sometimes bullied, Gates grew up in a competitive environment, where winning and losing were always met 
with rewards or consequences.

At 13, Gates attended the private Lakeside School, where he developed an interest in computers. His school’s Mothers’ Club bought
a Teletype terminal and computer time for students, and Gates quickly became fascinated with programming. He wrote his 
first computer program—a version of tic-tac-toe—on a General Electric computer. After being banned from using another system 
for exploiting software bugs, Gates and a few friends started the Lakeside Programmers Club, offering to fix bugs in exchange 
for more computer time. This was the beginning of his tech journey.

Gates later partnered with his friend Paul Allen to start a company called Traf-O-Data, creating traffic counters. After graduating 
from Lakeside in 1973 as a National Merit Scholar, Gates scored 1590 out of 1600 on the SAT and enrolled at Harvard 
University. However, after just two years, Gates dropped out to focus on his passion for technology, even though his parents were supportive of his decision. While at Harvard, he met Steve Ballmer, who would later become CEO of Microsoft.

While at Harvard, Gates also worked on solving a problem in combinatorics, creating an algorithm for pancake sorting that remained the fastest for over 30 years. After meeting Paul Allen again in 1974, Gates dropped out of Harvard to start Microsoft, seeing the release of the MITS Altair 8800 as a great opportunity. His decision to leave school wasn’t easy, but he knew that if things didn’t work out, he could always return to his studies.

Microsoft

BASIC

In January 1975, Bill Gates saw an article in *Popular Electronics* about the Altair 8800, a new microcomputer. He contacted the company behind it, Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), claiming that he and his team were working on a BASIC interpreter for the machine. In reality, they hadn’t written any code or even seen an Altair. They just wanted to see if MITS would be interested in their idea. MITS president Ed Roberts agreed to meet them, and over the next few weeks, Gates and Paul Allen developed an emulator for the Altair and the BASIC interpreter. The demo was a success, leading to a deal with MITS to distribute the software as Altair BASIC.

In November 1975, Gates took a leave of absence from Harvard and moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to work with Allen at MITS. Allen named their partnership "Micro-Soft," combining "microcomputer" and "software." They hired their first employee, Ric Weiland, and soon after registered the trade name "Microsoft" in 1976, dropping the hyphen after a year.

Microsoft’s Altair BASIC became popular with hobbyists, but Gates quickly noticed that many users were copying and distributing it without paying. In February 1976, he wrote an open letter to hobbyists, explaining that this was harming the software industry and that developers deserved to be compensated for their work. The letter was controversial, but Gates stood by his belief. Microsoft became independent from MITS in late 1976 and continued creating software for various computer systems.

By January 1, 1979, Microsoft moved to Bellevue, Washington. During the company’s early years, Gates personally reviewed and often rewrote every line of code. As the company expanded, he moved into a management role. In 1981, Gates worked on a computer game called DONKEY.BAS, which was included with early versions of the IBM PC. The game involved driving a car while avoiding donkeys, and it was written by Gates and Neil Konzen.

IBM partnership

In July 1980, IBM, the leading supplier of computer equipment at the time, approached Microsoft for help with software for their upcoming personal computer, the IBM PC. This connection came about after Bill Gates’s mother mentioned Microsoft to John Opel, IBM's CEO. Initially, IBM asked Microsoft to write a BASIC interpreter for the PC. However, they also mentioned needing an operating system, and Gates suggested they contact Digital Research, the creators of the CP/M operating system.

When discussions with Digital Research didn’t go well, IBM came back to Gates and asked if Microsoft could provide an operating system. A few weeks later, Gates and Paul Allen proposed using 86-DOS, an operating system developed by Tim Paterson for a similar computer. Microsoft struck a deal with Paterson’s company, Seattle Computer Products, to license 86-DOS, and later bought the rights to it. They then hired Paterson to adapt the OS for the IBM PC and delivered it to IBM as PC DOS for a one-time fee of $50,000.

Although the deal itself didn’t earn Microsoft much money, the real value came from the prestige of having IBM use their operating system. Gates didn’t transfer the copyright to IBM because he believed other companies would soon clone IBM’s PC hardware, which they did. This led to the rise of the IBM-compatible PC, which used DOS, becoming the standard in the industry. The sales of MS-DOS (Microsoft’s version of DOS for other PC makers) turned Microsoft into a major force in the tech world.

In 1981, Gates led Microsoft through a major restructuring, making the company a corporation in Washington state, with Gates as president and chairman and Paul Allen as vice president and vice chairman. In early 1983, Allen left Microsoft after being diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, which also ended their formal business partnership. The two had also been at odds over Microsoft’s equity distribution. Despite the strained relationship, Gates later reconciled with Allen, and they made significant donations to their childhood school, Lakeside. They remained friends until Allen passed away in 2018.

In 1985, Microsoft launched Windows, their first retail version, as a way to compete with Apple's Macintosh, which was gaining popularity for its easy-to-use graphical interface. In 1986, Microsoft and IBM agreed to develop a new operating system, OS/2. Although they created the first version together, the partnership eventually soured due to creative differences. Over time, Windows evolved from DOS, and with the release of Windows 95, the DOS prompt was hidden by default. After stepping down as CEO, Gates remained involved with Microsoft until 2014, when he handed over the chairmanship to John W. Thompson.

Windows

On November 20, 1985, Microsoft launched its first retail version of Windows, aiming to compete with Apple's popular Macintosh, which had won over many users with its user-friendly graphical interface. In 1986, Microsoft and IBM made a deal to create a new operating system called OS/2. Although they successfully developed the first version together, their partnership began to break down due to creative differences. Over the next decade, Windows continued to evolve from its DOS roots, eventually leading to the release of Windows 95, which no longer required the DOS prompt by default.

Windows XP, released one year after Bill Gates stepped down as CEO, became one of the most popular versions of Windows. The last version of Windows Gates worked on before stepping down as chair of Microsoft was Windows 8.1, which was released in 2013. Gates officially handed over the chairmanship to John W. Thompson on February 5, 2014.

Management style

In the early years of Microsoft, Bill Gates was deeply involved in software development, especially in the company’s programming language products. However, as the company grew, his main role shifted to management and leadership. While he wasn't part of development teams after working on the TRS-80 Model 100, Gates continued to write code for the company’s products until as late as 1989. When Microsoft Excel was announced in 1985, science fiction writer Jerry Pournelle commented that Gates was excited about it not just for the money it would bring, but because it was a clever piece of software.

In the late 1990s, Gates faced criticism for his business practices, which many considered anti-competitive, a view supported by several court rulings. In 2006, Gates decided to step back from his day-to-day role at Microsoft to focus more on his philanthropic efforts. Over the next two years, he gradually handed over his responsibilities to Ray Ozzie, who took over management, and Craig Mundie, who handled long-term product strategy. By June 27, 2008, Gates had fully transitioned out of his role, marking the end of an era at Microsoft.

Post-Microsoft

After stepping down from day-to-day operations at Microsoft, Bill Gates continued his philanthropic work and became involved in various other projects. In February 2014, he left his role as chairman of Microsoft and became a technology advisor to support the new CEO, Satya Nadella.

In a 2014 interview with *Rolling Stone*, Gates shared his thoughts on several issues, including climate change, his charitable efforts, the tech industry, and the future of America. He expressed concern about potential future global risks, such as pandemics and bioterrorism, but also highlighted innovation as the key to progress. He also emphasized his optimism about America's future.

Gates has voiced concerns about the dangers of superintelligent AI. In a Reddit AMA, he explained that while early AI would likely help with many tasks, he agreed with Elon Musk's warnings about the long-term risks when AI becomes more powerful. He recommended Nick Bostrom's book *Superintelligence* as essential reading.

In a 2015 TED talk, Gates also warned about the lack of preparation for the next pandemic—a warning that proved prescient when COVID-19 emerged in 2019. In March 2020, Gates announced he was stepping down from his positions at Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway to focus more on his charitable work, particularly in the areas of climate change, global health, development, and education.

During the COVID-19 crisis, the media frequently turned to Gates for insights, even though he wasn't a public health official. His foundation played a significant role in supporting the development of treatments and vaccines, and Gates worked closely with Dr. Anthony Fauci to address the pandemic.

In 2019, Gates admitted that Microsoft’s failure to dominate the mobile operating system market was his biggest mistake, partly due to the antitrust challenges Microsoft faced at the time. He also joined the advisory board of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum that year.

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Sure! Here is the list of references with numbers added in front of each one:

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