$Bill Gates Success Story...
Who Is Bill Gates?
@Entrepreneur and businessman Bill Gates (born October 28, 1955) and his partner Paul Allen founded and built the world's largest software business, Microsoft, through technological innovation, keen business strategy and aggressive business tactics. In the process, Gates became one of the richest men in the world. In February 2014, Gates announced that he was stepping down as Microsoft's chairman to focus on charitable work at his foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Net Worth and House
@In March 1986, Bill Gates took Microsoft public with an initial public offering (IPO) of $21 per share, making him an instant millionaire at age 31. Gates held 45 percent of the company's 24.7 million shares, making his stake at that time $234 million of Microsoft's $520 million.
@Over time, the company's stock increased in value and split numerous times. In 1987, Bill Gates became a billionaire when the stock hit $90.75 a share. Since then, Gates has been at the top, or at least near the top, of Forbes' annual list of the top 400 wealthiest people in America. In 1999, with stock prices at an all-time high and the stock splitting eight-fold since its IPO, Gates' wealth briefly topped $101 billion.
@In 1997, Gates and his family moved into a 55,000-square-foot, $54-million house on the shore of Lake Washington. Though the house serves as a business center, it is said to be very cozy for the couple and their three children.
Wife and Children
@In 1987, a 23-year-old Microsoft product manager named Melinda French caught the eye of Bill Gates, then 32. The very bright and organized Melinda was a perfect match for Gates. In time, their relationship grew as they discovered an intimate and intellectual connection. On January 1, 1994, Melinda and Bill were married in Hawaii.
@Following the devastating death of his mother to breast cancer just a few months after their wedding, Bill and Melinda took some time off in 1995 to travel and get a new perspective on life and the world. In 1996, their first daughter, Jennifer, was born. Their son, Rory, was born in 1999, and a second daughter, Phoebe, arrived in 2002.
Bill Gates – A Success Story
@Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955 in Seattle in a family having rich business, political and community service background. His great-grandfather was a state legislator and a mayor, his grandfather was vice president of national bank and his father was a lawyer.
@Bill believed in achieving his goals through hard work. He also believes that if you are intelligent and know how to use your intelligence, you can reach your goals and targets. From his early days Bill was ambitious, competitive and intelligent. These qualities helped him to attain great position in the profession he chose also Bill was deemed by his peers and his teachers as the smartest kid on campus; Bill’s parents came to know their son’s intelligence and decided to enroll him in a private school, known for its intense academic environment. That was the most important decision in Bill Gate’s life where he was first introduced to computers. Bill Gates and his friends were very much interested in computer and formed “Programmers Group” in late 1968. Being in this group, they found a new way to apply their computer skill in university of Washington. In the next year, they got their first opportunity in Information Sciences Inc. in which they were selected as programmers. ISI (Information Sciences Inc.) agreed to give them royalties, whenever it made money from any of the group’s program. As a result of the business deal signed with Information Sciences Inc., the group also became a legal business.
@Bill Gates and his close friend Allen formed a new company of their own, Traf-O-Data. They developed a small computer to measure traffic flow. From this project they earned around $20,000. The era of Traf-O-Data came to an end when Gates left the college. Upon graduating from Lakeside Bill enrolled in Harvard University in 1973, one of the best universities in the country, He didn’t know what to do, so he enrolled his name for pre-law. He took the standard freshman courses with the exception of signing up for one of Harvard’s toughest mathematics courses. He did well over there, but he couldn’t find it interesting too. He spent many long nights in front of the school’s computer and the next day asleep in class. After leaving school, he almost lost himself from the world of computers. Gates and his friend Paul Allen remained in close contact even though they were away from school. They would often discuss new ideas for future projects and the possibility of starting a business one fine day. At the end of Bill’s first year, Allen came close to him so that they could follow some of their ideas. That summer they got job in Honeywell. Allen kept on pushing Bill for opening a new software company.
@Within a year, Bill Gates dropped out from Harvard. Then he formed Microsoft. Microsoft’s vision is “A computer on every desk and Microsoft software on every computer”. Bill is a visionary person and works very hard to achieve his vision. His belief in high intelligence and hard work has put him where he is today. He does not believe in mere luck or God’s grace, but just hard work and competitiveness. Bill’s Microsoft is good competition for other software companies and he will continue to stomp out (challenge) the competition until he dies. He likes to play the game of Risk and the game of world domination. His beliefs are so powerful, which have helped him increase his wealth and his monopoly in the industry.
@Bill Gates is not a greedy person. In fact, he is quite giving person when it comes to computers, internet and any kind of funding. Some years back, he visited Chicago’s Einstein Elementary School and announced grants benefiting Chicago’s schools and museums where he donated a total of $110,000, a bunch of computers, and provided internet connectivity to number of schools. Secondly, Bill Gates donated 38 million dollars for the building of a computer institute at Stanford University.
He Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
@In 1994, Bill and Melinda Gates established the William H. Gates Foundation, which was dedicated to supporting education, world health and investment in low-income communities. With Melinda's influence, Bill had taken an interest in becoming a civic leader in the footsteps of his mother, studying the philanthropic work of American industrial titans Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. He realized that he had an obligation to give more of his wealth to charity. In 2000, the couple combined several family foundations and made a $28 billion contribution to form the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
@In 2000, Bill Gates stepped down from the day-to-day operations of Microsoft, turning over the job of CEO to college friend Steve Ballmer, who had been with Microsoft since 1980. He positioned himself as chief software architect so he could concentrate on what was for him the more passionate side of the business, though he remained chairman of the board.
@Over the next few years, Bill’s involvement with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation occupied much of his time and even more of his interest. In 2006, Gates announced he was transitioning himself from full-time work at Microsoft to devote more quality time to the foundation. His last full day at Microsoft was June 27, 2008. In February 2014, Gates stepped down as chairman of Microsoft in order to move into a new position as technology adviser; longtime Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was replaced by 46-year-old Satya Nadella.
@Gates continues to devote much of his time and energy to the work of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The organization tackles international and domestic issues, such as health and education and helping students in the United States become college-ready. In 2015, Gates spoke out in favor of national Common Core standards in grades K through 12 and charter schools. Gates also proved to be a groundbreaking employer when, around this time, the foundation announced that it would give its employees a year's paid leave after the birth or the adoption of a child.
@Alzheimer's Research and 'Smart City'
@Along with the work done through his foundation, Gates in November 2017 revealed that he was investing $50 million of his own money into the Dementia Discovery Fund, and would follow with another $50 million toward start-up ventures working in Alzheimer’s research. It was said to be a personal matter for Gates, who has seen the devastating effects of the disease on his own family members.
@"Any type of treatment would be a huge advance from where we are today," he told CNN, adding, "the long-term goal has got to be cure."
@Around the same time, it was revealed that one of Gates's firms had invested $80 million into the development of a "smart city" near Phoenix, Arizona. The proposed city, named Belmont, will "create a forward-thinking community with a communication and infrastructure spine that embraces cutting-edge technology, designed around high-speed digital networks, data centers, new manufacturing technologies and distribution models, autonomous vehicles and autonomous logistics hubs," according to the Belmont Partners real estate investment group.
@Of the nearly 25,000 acres of land designated for the site, it was reported that 3,800 acres will go toward office, commercial and retail space, and another 470 acres will be used for public schools, leaving room for 80,000 residential units.
