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Bill Gates

Bill Gates
Bill Gates at the World Economic Forum in Davos, 2007
Personal information
Birth nameWilliam Henry Gates III
Birth dateOctober 28, 1955(age 60)
Place of birthSeattle, Washington, U.S.
ResidenceMedina, Washington, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materHarvard University (Dropout)
OccupationChairman of Microsoft
Chairman of Corbis
Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Director of Berkshire Hathaway
CEO of Cascade Investment
Years active1975 � present
Net worth(+)US$59 billion (2011)
ReligionAgnostic
Spouse-Melinda Gates-1994
Children3
ParentsWilliam H. Gates, Sr.
Mary Maxwell Gates

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William Henry "Bill" Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, author, and former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen. He is consistently ranked among the world's wealthiest people

and was the wealthiest overall from 1995 to 2009, excluding 2008, when he was ranked third.

During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of CEO and chief software architect, and remains the largest individual shareholder, with more than 8 percent of the common stock. He has also authored or co-authored several books.

Gates is one of the best-known entrepreneurs of the personal computer revolution. Although he is admired by many, a number of industry insiders criticize his business tactics, which they consider anti-competitive, an opinion which has in some cases been upheld by the courts. In the later stages of his career, Gates has pursued a number of philanthropic endeavors, donating large amounts of money to various charitable organizations and scientific research programs through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, established in 2000.

Gates stepped down as chief executive officer of Microsoft in January 2000. He remained as chairman and created the position of chief software architect. In June 2006, Gates announced that he would be transitioning from full-time work at Microsoft to part-time work, and full-time work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He gradually transferred his duties to Ray Ozzie, chief software architect, and Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer. Gates' last full-time day at Microsoft was June 27, 2008. He remains at Microsoft as non-executive chairman.


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