Historical Figures Codexery

Bill Gates

Co-founder of Microsoft and philanthropist

Bill Gates

Bogdan Hoyaux / European Union · via Wikipedia: Bill Gates · CC BY 4.0

William Henry Gates III was born on October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington, as the only son of a prominent lawyer and a board member of First Interstate BancSystem.[1] He is the fourth of his name in his family and was known as "Trey"[2]

Last updated 2026-10-02 from the source article.

Quick Facts

Birth name
William Henry Gates III
Born
28 October 1955
Birthplace
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
Children
3, including Phoebe

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Gates enrolled at Lakeside Prep School at age 13, where he began programming on a Teletype terminal bought by the Mothers' Club.[3] He wrote his first computer program, a tic-tac-toe game, on that machine.[4] In 1975, after seeing the MITS Altair 8800, Gates dropped out of Harvard to start a computer software company with Paul Allen.[5] In February 1976, he wrote an open letter asserting that over 90% of users had not paid for the software.[6]

IBM approached Microsoft in July 1980 for software for its upcoming personal computer.[7] Gates referred IBM to Digital Research for an operating system, but after discussions failed, Microsoft provided 86-DOS.[8][9] Microsoft launched its first retail version of Windows on November 20, 1985.[10] Although Altair BASIC from Microsoft proved popular among computer enthusiasts, Gates learned that a copy had been distributed before its official release and was being extensively duplicated.[6]

What the cited sources add

A 1962 HistoryLink article notes that a tornado damaged the Gates family home when Bill was 7 years old.[11] In a 2018 CNBC article, Gates told Harvard students he wished he had been more sociable in college.[12] The same article reports that Gates's college friend Steve Ballmer helped him join an exclusive all-male social club called the Fox Club.[12] The Crimson article also notes that this was Gates's first personal donation to MIT, though Microsoft had given before.[13]

A 1999 Harvard Crimson article reports that Gates contributed $20 million to MIT for a computer lab building, with architect Frank O. Gehry designing the structure.[13]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Bill Gates" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Bill Gates (American computer programmer, businessman, and philanthropist)", Britannica; "Mary Gates, 64; helped her son start Microsoft", The New York Times, June 11, 1994; "Microsoft founder Bill Gates has Yorkshire roots". The Telegraph. June 23, 2020. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Bill Gates" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Manes 1994, p. 15; Leibovich, "Alter Egos", The Washington Post, December 31, 2000; Lange, "Tornado with 100-m.p.h. winds hits Seattle and Juanita on September 28, 1962.", HistoryLink, February 14, 1999 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Bill Gates" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Manes 1994, p. 15; Soundaian, "New Dimensions of Management", MJP Publisher, June 10, 2019; Manes 1994, p. 15 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Bill Gates" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gates 1996, p. 12 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Bill Gates" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wallace 1993, p. 59; Gates 1996, p. 12 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Bill Gates" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Manes 1994, p. 15 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Bill Gates" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Mary Gates, 64; helped her son start Microsoft", The New York Times, June 11, 1994 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Bill Gates" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gordon, "Pioneers Die Broke", Forbes, December 23, 2002 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Bill Gates" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Father of DOS", Paterson Technology (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Bill Gates" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hartmans, "A history of the decades-long feud between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, whose love-hate relationship spurred the success of Microsoft and Apple", Insider Inc., April 1, 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Lange, "Tornado with 100-m.p.h. winds hits Seattle and Juanita on September 28, 1962.", HistoryLink, February 14, 1999. facts only, no text reused. historylink.org
  12. Mejia, "The No. 1 thing Bill Gates wishes he'd done in college", CNBC, April 29, 2018. facts only, no text reused. cnbc.com
  13. Matthew G.H. Chun, "Bill Gates Donates $20 million to MIT", The Harvard Crimson, April 14, 1999. facts only, no text reused. thecrimson.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Bill Gates (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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