Story of Bill Gates

William Henry “Bill” Gates III was born on 28 October, 1955 in Seattle at Washington. He was enrolled in the Lakeside School, a private preparatory school. At the age of thirteen itself, he began to show interest in computer programming. He was good in academics and always excelled in mathematics and science. He then enrolled in Harvard University to pursue his passion. At school he met Paul Allen, two senior from Gates and in their free time together they always worked on programs. At this time Bill created a payroll program for the computer company and then scheduling program for the school.

In the year 1970 when he was fifteen year old he entered business with Paul Allen. Together they “Traf-o-Data”, a computer software program that helps monitoring traffic patterns in Seattle and netted $20,000 for their work. The duo soon wanted to start their own company but Gates parents insisted that he complete his schooling first and complete college so that he can become a lawyer.

Bill then soon enrolled in Harvard University to become lawyer but he spent more time in computer labs rather than in class. He stayed in touch with Paul Allen who showed him an edition of Popular Electronics magazine featuring an article on the Altair 8800 mini-computer kit. Altair was made by a small company in Albuquerque, New Mexico, called MITS. They both contacted the company, claiming that they were working on a BASIC software program that would help running the Altair computer. Ed, MITS president, Roberts, asked the boys for a demonstration. Later the duo was spending their time writing the software at Harvard’s computer lab. MITS hired Allen and Gates also joined him dropping out of Harvard. They both formed a partnership they called Microsoft, a blend of “micro-computer” and “software”.

The company started off on shaky footing. Roberts sold MITS to another computer company in 1977 and went back to Georgia to become a country doctor. Gates and Allen became the new owner of MITS and were on their own. Microsoft wrote software for other computer companies. Gates placed himself as the head of Microsoft, at the age of 23, which grossed approximately $2.5 million in 1979. In November 1985, Bill Gates and Microsoft launched Windows, an Operating System. Gates took Microsoft public with an initial public offering (IPO) of $21 per share in March 1986. Ever since then Gates has been top of Forbes’s annual list of the top 400 wealthiest people in America. He was named as one of Good Housekeeping’s 50 most eligible bachelors and soon later he got married to Melinda French on 1^st  of January, 1994.In 2000, Gates and his wife to create the charitable ‘Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’, which was the world’s wealthiest charitable foundation, valued at more than $34.6 billion. He was awarded the “Placard of the Order of the Aztec Eagle” in November 2006.  His foundation joined with Rotary to boost Polio endgame support in Jan 21, 2009.In 2015, Gates, along with his wife Melinda, received the “Padma Bhushan”, India’s third-highest civilian award for their social work in the country.