" Inside Story "

It was during the spring term of 1968, at Lakeside Prep School that Bill Gates first used a computer. Though computers were still too expensive to buy, the school held a fundraiser and acquired computer time on a DEC PDP-10 owned by General Electric. This cost them several thousand dollars but the school expected this to last them a whole year. However the schools did not count on the enthusiasm of several young students.

He, Paul Allen and several other students (of which many became Microsoft programmers) became addicted to the computer, spending all day and all night writing programs and reading all the material they could get their hands on. Soon this began to take its toll on their education. Homework was being handed in late, classes were being skipped and all the schools computer time was used up in a few weeks.

Traf-O-Data was his and Allen's next project creating software to help measure traffic flow. They earned Wealth of approximately $20,000 from the company in total, which latest untill he left for college.

In the autumn of 1973, He started studying in university at Harvard. However like at Lakeside Pre, his heart was not in his studies. In 1975 he dropped out of Harvard and Microsoft was formed.

William (Bill) H. Gates is chairman of Microsoft Corporation, the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. Microsoft had revenues of US$44.28 billion for the fiscal year ending June 2006, and employs more than 71,000 people in 103 countries and regions.

On June 15, 2006, Microsoft announced that effective July 2008 he will transition out of a day-to-day role in the company to spend more time on his global health and education work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. After July 2008 he will continue to serve as Microsoft’s chairman and an advisor on key development projects. The two-year transition process is to ensure that there is a smooth and orderly transfer of his daily responsibilities. Effective June 2006, Ray Ozzie has assumed his previous title as chief software architect and is working side by side with him on all technical architecture and product oversight responsibilities at Microsoft. Craig Mundie has assumed the new title of chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft and is working closely with him to assume his responsibility for the company’s research and incubation efforts.

Born on Oct. 28, 1955, He grew up in Seattle with his two sisters. Their father, William H. Gates II, is a Seattle attorney. Their late mother, Mary Gates, was a school teacher, University of Washington regent, and chairwoman of United Way International.

He attended public elementary school and the private Lakeside School. There, he discovered his interest in software and began programming computers at age 13.

In 1973, He entered Harvard University as a freshman, where he lived down the hall from Steve Ballmer, now Microsoft's chief executive officer. While at Harvard, Gates developed a version of the programming language BASIC for the first microcomputer - the MITS Altair.

In his junior year, He left Harvard to devote his energies to Microsoft, a company he had begun in 1975 with his childhood friend Paul Allen. Guided by a belief that the computer would be a valuable tool on every office desktop and in every home, they began developing software for personal computers. He foresight and his vision for personal computing have been central to the success of Microsoft and the software industry.

Under his leadership, Microsoft's mission has been to continually advance and improve software technology, and to make it easier, more cost-effective and more enjoyable for people to use computers. The company is committed to a long-term view, reflected in its investment of approximately $6.2 billion on research and development in the 2005 fiscal year.

In 1999, He wrote Business @ the Speed of Thought, a book that shows how computer technology can solve business problems in fundamentally new ways. The book was published in 25 languages and is available in more than 60 countries. Business @ the Speed of Thought has received wide critical acclaim, and was listed on the best-seller lists of the New York Times, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and Amazon.com. His previous book, The Road Ahead, published in 1995, held the No. 1 spot on the New York Times' bestseller list for seven weeks.

He has donated the proceeds of both books to non-profit organizations that support the use of technology in education and skills development.

In addition to his love of computers and software, He founded Corbis, which is developing one of the world's largest resources of visual information - a comprehensive digital archive of art and photography from public and private collections around the globe. He is also a member of the board of directors of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which invests in companies engaged in diverse business activities.