Bill Gates facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Bill Gates
Gates in 2024
Born	William Henry Gates III (1955-10-28) October 28, 1955 (age 69) Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Education	Harvard University (dropped out)
Occupation	Businessman philanthropist computer programmer writer
Years active	1972–present
Known for	Pioneer of the personal computer revolution with Paul Allen Co-founding of Microsoft and Gates Foundation
Title	See list Chair of the Gates Foundation Chairman and founder of Cascade Investment Chairman and founder of Branded Entertainment Network Chairman and co-founder of TerraPower Founder of Breakthrough Energy Founder of Gates Ventures Technology advisor of Microsoft
Spouse(s)	Melinda French (m. 1994; div. 2021)
Children	3
Parent(s)	Bill Gates Sr. Mary Maxwell
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (2005) Padma Bhushan (2015) Presidential Medal of Freedom (2016) Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (2020) Hilal-e-Pakistan (2022)
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William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman, investor, and writer. He is most famous for co-founding Microsoft, a huge software company, with his friend Paul Allen. Bill Gates was a key figure in the rise of personal computers in the 1970s and 1980s.

Early Life and Family

Bill Gates was born in Seattle, Washington, on October 28, 1955. His parents were William H. Gates Sr. and Mary Maxwell Gates. His father was a well-known lawyer. His mother was on the board of directors for large companies and charities.

Bill has two sisters, Kristi and Libby. Their family home in Seattle was once damaged by a rare tornado when Bill was seven.

The Gates family loved competition. A visitor once said that winning was always rewarded, and losing had a penalty. This competitive spirit was part of Bill's upbringing.

Gates (right), with Paul Allen, at Lakeside School in 1970. They are using computer terminals.

Education and First Steps in Programming

At 13, Bill Gates went to Lakeside prep school. He was a very smart student. He scored 1590 out of 1600 on his SAT tests.

Discovering Computers

When Bill was in eighth grade, his school's Mothers' Club bought a computer terminal. This allowed students to use a General Electric computer. Bill became very interested in programming this computer using a language called BASIC. He even skipped math classes to spend more time with it.

His first computer program was a game of tic-tac-toe. He loved how the computer always followed the instructions perfectly.

After the school's computer time ran out, Bill and his friends, including Paul Allen, found other computers to use. They even got banned from one system for finding ways to get free computer time!

The Lakeside Programmers Club

Bill, Paul Allen, and two other friends formed the Lakeside Programmers Club. They offered to find bugs (errors) in computer software in exchange for more computer time. Bill spent hours studying the computer's code.

Later, a teacher asked Bill and his friend Kent Evans to create a system to schedule classes for the school. Sadly, Kent died in an accident. Bill then worked with Paul Allen to finish the project.

Harvard Years and Dropping Out

In 1973, Bill Gates started college at Harvard University. He planned to study law but also took advanced computer science classes. While there, he met Steve Ballmer, who would later become Microsoft's CEO.

Bill left Harvard after two years. He wanted to start his own company. His parents supported his decision. He said he could always go back to school if things didn't work out.

Founding Microsoft

In 1975, Bill Gates and Paul Allen started Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Their goal was to create software for the new personal computers. It grew to become the world's largest personal computer software company.

The MITS Altair 8800 Computer. Microsoft's first product was a programming language for this machine.

Microsoft released its first version of Microsoft Windows in 1985. This was a new way for people to use computers with a graphical interface (pictures and icons). It was designed to compete with Apple's Macintosh.

Gates gives a speech at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, January 2008.

In Microsoft's early days, Bill Gates was very involved in writing software code. He was also the main leader and manager. He was known for being very focused on the company's products.

Bill Gates was the chairman and CEO of Microsoft until 2000. Then, Steve Ballmer took over as CEO. Bill remained chairman of the board. In 2014, he stepped down as chairman to become a technology advisor. In 2020, he left his board positions entirely to focus on his charity work.

Other Ventures and Investments

After stepping away from daily operations at Microsoft, Bill Gates has focused on many other projects. He is the founder and chairman of several companies. These include Cascade Investment and TerraPower.

Business Interests

Bill Gates has invested in many different types of businesses. Some of his investments include:

AutoNation: A large car retailer.
Canadian National Railway (CN): A major railway company in Canada.
Cascade Investment: His private investment company. Through this company, he owns a lot of farmland in the United States.
Carbon Engineering: A company that works on removing carbon dioxide from the air.
Corbis: A company that licenses digital images.
EarthNow: A startup that plans to provide live satellite video of Earth.
Impossible Foods: A company that makes plant-based meat substitutes.
TerraPower: A company that designs new types of nuclear power plants to help with climate change.
Breakthrough Energy Ventures: A fund that invests in green energy startups.

Philanthropy and Giving Back

In 2000, Bill and his then-wife, Melinda Gates, started the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This is a huge charitable organization. In 2008, Bill started working full-time at the Foundation.

The Foundation has done amazing work, like helping to get rid of the wild poliovirus in Africa. In 2010, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett started The Giving Pledge. This encourages billionaires to give away at least half of their wealth to charity.

Bill Gates has also given money to universities. He donated to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University for new computer labs.

Gates with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the COP26 climate summit in 2021.

Solving Global Problems

Since 2005, Bill Gates and his foundation have worked on global sanitation issues. They launched the "Reinvent the Toilet Challenge." Bill even drank water made from a special sewage treatment process to show it was safe!

He has also given money to research Alzheimer's disease. In 2018, he helped flood victims in Kerala, India, through UNICEF.

Bill Gates is also a strong environmental activist. He believes in investing in new technologies to make clean energy cheaper. He thinks this can help both climate change and poverty.

Gates with Bono and other leaders at the World Economic Forum in 2008.

Charity Sports Events

Bill Gates enjoys playing tennis for charity. He has teamed up with tennis legend Roger Federer in "Match for Africa" events. These matches raise money for children in Africa.

In 2017, they played against John Isner and Mike McCready (from Pearl Jam). They won the match and raised $2 million. In 2018, they played again, winning and raising over $2.5 million.

Books by Bill Gates

Bill Gates has written several books sharing his ideas and knowledge:

The Road Ahead (1995): This book talked about how personal computers would change the future.
Business @ the Speed of Thought (1999): This book discussed how technology helps businesses succeed.
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster (2021): In this book, Gates shares what he learned about climate change and how to solve it.
How to Prevent the Next Pandemic (2022): This book explains the COVID-19 pandemic and suggests ways to prevent future ones.

Personal Life

Gates meets with U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis in February 2017.

Bill Gates loves to read. His home library has a quote from The Great Gatsby on the ceiling. He also enjoys playing bridge, tennis, and golf. His days are carefully planned, almost minute by minute.

He is known for being very careful with money, even flying economy class on planes until 1997.

In 1994, he bought the Codex Leicester, a collection of scientific writings by Leonardo da Vinci, for $30.8 million.

Family Life

Gates and Melinda in 2009.

Bill Gates married Melinda French on January 1, 1994. They met when Melinda started working at Microsoft. They have three children: Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe. Their home is a large mansion built into a hillside overlooking Lake Washington.

In May 2021, Bill and Melinda announced they were divorcing after 27 years of marriage. They said they would continue to work together on their charity efforts.

In 2023, Bill Gates became a grandfather when his eldest daughter, Jennifer, had a baby girl.

Wealth and Influence

Bill Gates has been one of the richest people in the world for many years. He was the wealthiest person from 1995 to 2007, and again in 2009, and from 2014 to 2017.

He has said that he plans to give away almost all of his wealth to charity. He and Melinda intend to leave their children $10 million each. This means they will give away about 99.96% of their fortune.

Recognition and Awards

Bill Gates has received many honors for his work:

Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
He was also named one of the 100 most influential people in 2004, 2005, and 2006.
In 2005, Time named Bill, Melinda, and Bono (the singer from U2) as "Persons of the Year" for their charity work.
He was made an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005.
In 2015, he and Melinda received the Padma Bhushan, a high civilian award from India.
In 2016, President Barack Obama gave Bill and Melinda the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This is one of the highest civilian awards in the United States.
In 2017, France gave them the Legion of Honour, its highest national award.
In 1997, a type of flower fly was named Eristalis gatesi in his honor.

Interesting Facts About Bill Gates

Bill Gates is the fourth person in his family with the name William Henry Gates. He is often called "Trey" (meaning three).
His parents wanted him to become a lawyer.
He wrote his first computer program when he was 13 years old.
At 17, he started a company called Traf-O-Data with Paul Allen to make traffic counters.
He dropped out of Harvard University to start Microsoft.
He was Microsoft's largest individual shareholder until 2014.
He once said he wished he wasn't the richest man in the world because he didn't like the attention it brought.
Bill Gates and his childhood friend Paul Allen remained friends until Allen's death in 2018.

Bill Gates Quotes

“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.”
“I really had a lot of dreams when I was a kid, and I think a great deal of that grew out of the fact that I had a chance to read a lot.”
“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.”
“It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.”
“Power comes not from knowledge kept but from knowledge shared.”
“Some people may call me a nerd. I claim the label with pride.”
“I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.”

Documentary Films About Gates

The Machine That Changed the World (1990)
Triumph of the Nerds (1996)
Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates (2019)