Bill Gates is one of the world’s richest men. It is estimated that he earns about US $ 30 million a day. This figure, however, depends upon the value at any time of his computer software company, Microsoft.
Gates established this company with Paul Allen in 1975 while he was still a student at Harvard University. At that time he believed it would not be long before every home had a computer, and that every family would need software. Software is the name given to the programs we use on a computer. The computer itself---the keyboard, monitor and processor---are called hardware.
Gates was born on October 28, 1955 and was already writing computer programs while still at school. In the 8th grade, he wrote a simple mathematical program and a computer version of his favourite board game, Rick, which is about world domination, and that he wants Microsoft to dominate the computer software industry.
In 1994 Gates married Melinda French, an employee at Microsoft. They have one child. Although Melinda no longer works at Microsoft, she spends a lot of time doing charity work and is a member of the board at Duke University from where she graduated with a degree in business.
Apart from Microsoft, Gates is interested in very fast cars and in the charitable organization he has established---the William H. Gates Foundation---in memory of his grandfather. He has already given more than US $ 200 million to this charity, which distributes money to organizations interested in education and the development of new technology.
As president of Microsoft, Gates spends most of his time in meetings with the different teams working on the company’s many programs. He also sends out hundreds of e-mails a day. Anybody who wants to contact Bill Gates can do so on the Internet at
[email protected].