Who is Bill Gates? a Biography of One of TIME's 2005 People of the Year

The man behind the money is indeed someone with a fortunate upbringing and a generous heart.

Bill Gates was born in October of 1955 to William Gates II, an attorney and the late Mary Gates, a schoolteacher, University of Washington regent, and chairwoman of United Way International. Gates had two sisters and attended a public elementary and private Lakeside school. During his time in private school he discovered and developed an interest in software and programming computers at the age of 13.

Gates began studying at Harvard University in 1973. Steve Ballmar, now Microsoft's chief executive officer, lived right down the hall from Gates. While a student at Harvard, Gates developed a programming language that was implemented and developed into BASIC for the first microcomputer.

Gates ended up leaving Harvard during his junior year to devote his energy to Microsoft, a company he began in 1975 with one of his childhood friends. Paul Allen and Gates worked together to continue developing Microsoft with the belief that every office and industry would soon require and use computer software. Because of Gates vision, personal computer use has not only skyrocketed, so has the use of Microsoft tools on individual and corporate levels.

Indeed, Microsoft Word, Office, and Excel are commonly used in the majority of businesses, as well as college and technical training.

Through Gates' leadership, Microsoft has been effective and has grown in popularity and usage over the last several decades.

Gates has also written a book entitled Business @ the Speed of Thought in 1999. The book has been published in 25 languages and is available in more than 60 countries. The book basically shows that computer technology can solve business problems in efficient, effective and innovative ways. This was actually Gates' second written work following The Road Ahead published in 1995. Both are considered bestsellers.

Corbis, a large collection of digital art and photography on the web, was also developed and founded by Bill Gates.
Not only has Gates left an indelible impression on the business and computer industry, he has also made a significant impact in several non-profit organizations and philanthropic causes.

Gates and his wife, Melinda, have given away over $30 billion in causes with emphasis in global health and learning. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has also committed an additional several billion dollars to organizations working in global health; as well as several billion to improve learning opportunities and bring computers and internet access to low-income communities in the U.S. and Canada.

It was recently announced that in July of 2008, Gates will step out of his role as a day-to-day leader in the company to spend more time concerning the global health and education work that the he and his wife have committed to via their foundation.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation focuses on bringing innovations in health and learning to the global community.

The most recent development of the foundation was a donated $6.9 million grant to 13 schools to provide 6,300 students greater access to high-quality education. Seven more Envision high schools in San Francisco will be opened in some of the state's most disadvantaged school districts. The Envision schools function by serving minority and low-income students.

Bill and Melinda were married in January of 1994 and have three children.

Gates also enjoys reading, playing golf and bridge.