Bill Gates: Lifetime of Achievement

On October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington, the world saw William Henry Gates III who is fondly remembered as Bill Gates. The career of his father is an eminent lawyer, William H. Gates Sr., while his mother held influential positions in various organizations. Thus, Bill grew up in a competitive environment characterized by the hustle for success which was also experienced by his elder sister, Kristianne, and a younger one named Libby.

Early on, Gates has always had so much interest in computers since early times. While being 13 years old and attending the private Lakeside School, he had never seen his very first computer – a PDP-10 machine which was much more powerful by then. PDP-10 with whom he happened to make acquaintance whilst enrolled at Lakeside prep marked the beginning of his entire life's dedication towards software development following which Bill wrote his initial program being a tic-tac-toe game but alongside him was only his close buddy Paul Allen. They continued to work together, improving their programming skills together, even at times when they had been scolded for using the security holes in programs to stay for long on the system.

While still an adolescent with a fresh curiosity for technology, his parents wanted him to pursue a legal profession. However, he had above-average academic achievements, especially in mathematics and physics; yet, his prime interest was in computing systems. At Harvard University, there was a turning point that Gates and Allen noticed due to the Altair 8800; an initial form of personal computers. In their view, there was a need to establish a new tool called BASIC interpreter which was a language program meant for this type of machine. This vision is what made Gates abandon Harvard in 1975 to pursue his vision. It was this vision that made him team up with Allen in 1975 to start what is now known as Microsoft.

Microsoft first succeeded by giving IBM a license for their MS-DOS operating system and their groundbreaking IBM PC. That’s when Microsoft zoomed into the era of personal computers. He knew how important software was in business and so he made a lot of money from it through licensing deals. Microsoft`s position as the dominating software maker on personal computers was confirmed by this plan - this argument was seen as conflicting with competition later on.

Microsoft kept getting better in the 80s and '90s with the Windows operating system being the most famous. Its operating systems from Windows 1.0 through widespread Windows 95 and then Windows XP were so user friendly, that the interface that remained popular was associated with personal computing by itself. Gates assumed the positions of President and Chairman whose name was now commonly heard within the households of those who took part in the technological rides. The only negative side is that he used unethical means to eliminate firms that posed competition to his company’s products.

Despite having a lot of money and being successful, by the end of the 90s, Gates was beginning to change direction in his life. He got married to Melinda French in 1994 and Bill and Melinda have three children: Jennifer, Rory and Phoebe.  Two  initiated the William H. Gates Foundation in 1997, which was later renamed to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The main goal of the charity was to fight against global health problems as well as poverty all over the world. Because of this, he spent more of his time and money on it due to his growing concern over world problems.

Gates in 2000 resigned as Microsoft’s CEO but still retained his chairmanship. He then concentrated more on his philanthropic ventures whereas he was still able to lead the company strategically. The Gates Foundation, being a very endowed organization, took part in such problems as pox eradication and world sanitation including malaria. A true change came over Gates, a man who used to be a stringent business person, who has since become one of the key figures involved with advocating for worldwide health issues.

In 2008, Gates became Microsoft’s non-executive chairman thus dropping off entirely from the board in 2014 whereby he ended this era fully devoted to his charitable work leading to what had become known then as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that impacted positively on policies covering all aspects of healthcare worldwide and also sponsored important programs studying various disease-causing agents. He served as an advocate for health equity at large with his partner Melinda (details / until her 2021 separation).

Bill Gates is multifaceted; he founded Microsoft with Paul Allen, changing the world of personal computing and software forever. Still, his ways of conducting business have caused disagreements. In contrast, using the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, he has brought about revolutionary changes in global health by saving numerous lives and driving change. These days, Bill Gates is still giving away money for charitable work and social service. His importance in the fields of technology and public health is so great that his name is known to all.