Bill Gates, an American businessman and philanthropist, revolutionized personal computing as co-founder of Microsoft in 1975 alongside Paul Allen. Microsoft's IPO in 1986 catapulted Gates to billionaire status by 1987, becoming the world's youngest at the time. He dominated Forbes' wealthiest person list for 18 years between 1995 and 2017, including a 13-year consecutive reign. Gates became the first centibillionaire in 1999. As of May 2025, his net worth stands at $115.1 billion, ranking him as the world's thirteenth-richest individual.
Bill Gates stated that climate change will not lead to humanity's end, and countries should rethink their climate strategy shifting from curbing emissions to alleviating human suffering. He advocates for focusing on adaptation and resilience.
William H. Gates Sr., Bill Gates's father, was born in 1925.
Mary Maxwell Gates, Bill Gates's mother, was born in 1929.
On October 28, 1955, William Henry Gates III was born in Seattle, Washington. He is an American businessman and philanthropist.
In 1970, Computer Center Corporation (CCC) went out of business, ending the arrangement where Bill Gates and others would find bugs in CCC's software in exchange for extra computer time.
In 1972, at age 17, Bill Gates served as a congressional page in the House of Representatives.
In 1973, Bill Gates enrolled at Harvard University, where he took classes including Math 55 and graduate level computer science courses.
In 1973, Bill Gates graduated from Lakeside School and enrolled at Harvard University in the autumn.
In the summer of 1974, Bill Gates joined Paul Allen at Honeywell.
In November 1975, Bill Gates took a leave of absence from Harvard to work with Allen at MITS, after a successful demonstration of the Altair BASIC interpreter. Allen named their partnership "Micro-Soft".
From 1975 until 2006, Bill Gates had primary responsibility for Microsoft's product strategy from the company's founding.
In 1975, Bill Gates co-founded the software company Microsoft with his childhood friend Paul Allen.
In 1975, the MITS Altair 8800 was released, and Bill Gates and Paul Allen saw the opportunity to start their own computer software company, Microsoft. Gates dropped out of Harvard that year.
In February 1976, Bill Gates wrote An Open Letter to Hobbyists asserting that most users of Microsoft Altair BASIC had not paid for it, jeopardizing software development incentives.
In 1977, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's President, graduated from Harvard. The Maxwell Dworkin Laboratory at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences is named after the mothers of both Gates and Ballmer who donated to the lab.
On January 1, 1979, Microsoft moved from Albuquerque to Bellevue, Washington.
In July 1980, IBM approached Microsoft concerning software for its upcoming personal computer, the IBM PC, after Gates's mother mentioned Microsoft to John Opel, IBM's then CEO. IBM first proposed that Microsoft write the BASIC interpreter.
On June 25, 1981, Bill Gates oversaw Microsoft's company restructuring, which re-incorporated the company in Washington state and made Gates the president and chairman of the board.
In 1981, Microsoft incorporated, and Bill Gates became president and chairman of the board.
In 1981, an industry executive complained that "Gates is notorious for not being reachable by phone and for not returning phone calls."
In early 1983, Paul Allen left Microsoft after receiving a Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis, ending the formal business partnership between Gates and Allen.
On November 20, 1985, Microsoft and Bill Gates launched their first retail version of Microsoft Windows.
In August 1986, Microsoft struck a deal with IBM to develop a separate operating system called OS/2.
In 1986, Microsoft had its initial public offering (IPO), after which Gates became the world's youngest billionaire the following year.
By 1987 Computerworld quoted an industry observer who said "Bill personifies Microsoft, and hotshots want to work for him".
In 1987 Computerworld quoted an industry observer who said "Bill personifies Microsoft, and hotshots want to work for him".
In 1987, Bill Gates met Melinda French at a trade fair in New York, where she was a new employee at Microsoft.
In 1987, Bill Gates was listed as a billionaire in Forbes magazine's first America's richest issue. He was the world's youngest-ever self-made billionaire, with a net worth of $1.25 billion.
In 1987, following Microsoft's IPO in 1986, Bill Gates became the world's youngest billionaire at age 31.
In 1989, Bill Gates founded Corbis, a digital imaging company.
In 1989, Bill Gates wrote code that shipped with the company's products.
In 1993, Bill Gates and Melinda French became engaged after dating for six years.
In 1993, Bill Gates was ranked first on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans.
On January 1, 1994, Bill Gates married Melinda French at the Manele Golf Course on the Hawaiian Island of Lānaʻi.
In 1994, Bill Gates donated some of his Microsoft stock to create the "William H. Gates Foundation".
In 1994, Bill Gates purchased the Codex Leicester, a collection of scientific writings by Leonardo da Vinci, for US$30.8 million at auction.
Mary Maxwell Gates, Bill Gates's mother, passed away in 1994.
In November 1995, Bill Gates's book, The Road Ahead, co-authored with Nathan Myhrvold and Peter Rinearson, was published. It discussed the personal computing revolution and the future information superhighway.
In 1995, Bill Gates was ranked as the richest person in the world on The World's Billionaires list.
In 1995, Forbes magazine ranked Bill Gates as the world's wealthiest person, a position he held for 18 out of 24 years between 1995 and 2017.
In January 1996, Bill Gates donated $6 million for the construction of the Gates Computer Science Building at Stanford University.
In 1996, Bill Gates was ranked as the richest person in the world on The World's Billionaires list.
In 1997, Bill Gates bought a private jet after previously flying coach in commercial aircraft.
In 1998, Bill Gates reportedly paid $30 million for the original 1885 maritime painting Lost on the Grand Banks.
In 1998, Bill Gates testified before the United States Senate, rejecting the need for regulation of the software industry.
In 1998, Bill Gates was ranked as the richest person in the world on The World's Billionaires list.
In the 1998 United States v. Microsoft case, Bill Gates gave deposition testimony that several journalists characterized as evasive.
In 1999, Bill Gates became the first centibillionaire, when his net worth briefly surpassed US$100 billion.
In 1999, Bill Gates was named as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century by Time magazine.
In 1999, Bill Gates's book, Business @ the Speed of Thought, co-authored with Collins Hemingway, was published. It discusses the integration of business and technology.
In 1999, Bill Gates's wealth briefly surpassed US$100 billion, making him the first person to reach this net worth.
After 2000, the nominal value of Bill Gates' Microsoft holdings declined due to the dot-com bubble burst and charitable donations.
In 2000, Bill Gates and his then-wife Melinda French Gates co-chaired the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, focusing on health, education, and poverty alleviation.
In 2000, Steve Ballmer succeeded Bill Gates as CEO of Microsoft. Gates transitioned to chief software architect.
Starting in 2000 with the foundation of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates turned his attention to philanthropy, spending more than $50 billion on causes like health, poverty, and education.
In 2004, Bill Gates became a board member of Berkshire Hathaway, the investment company headed by Warren Buffett.
In May 2006, Bill Gates remarked that he wished he was not the richest man in the world because he disliked the attention it brought.
In June 2006, Bill Gates announced that he would transition out of his role at Microsoft to dedicate more time to philanthropy.
From 1975 until 2006, Bill Gates had primary responsibility for Microsoft's product strategy from the company's founding.
In 2006, Microsoft paid Bill Gates a salary of US$616,667 and a bonus of US$350,000, for a total of US$966,667.
Bill Gates was the world's wealthiest person for 13 consecutive years, ending in 2007.
In 2007, Bill Gates was ranked as the richest person in the world on The World's Billionaires list.
In 2007, the Los Angeles Times criticized the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for investing its assets in companies accused of worsening poverty and pollution.
On June 27, 2008, the process of transferring Bill Gates' duties to Ray Ozzie and Craig Mundie was completed.
Bill Gates held the position of chief software architect at Microsoft until 2008.
Between 2009 and 2014, Bill Gates' wealth doubled from US$40 billion to US$82 billion.
In 2009, Bill Gates was ranked as the richest person in the world on The World's Billionaires list.
In 2009, Bill Gates, through his foundation, donated $20 million to Carnegie Mellon University for a new building named Gates Center for Computer Science.
In 2009, the property taxes on Bill Gates' mansion, Xanadu 2.0, were reported to be US$1.063 million, based on a total assessed value of US$147.5 million.
In March 2010, Bill Gates was the second wealthiest person after Carlos Slim.
On December 9, 2010, Bill and Melinda Gates, along with Warren Buffett, signed the "Giving Pledge," committing to donate at least half of their wealth to charity over time.
In 2010, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett founded the Giving Pledge, whereby they and other billionaires pledge to give at least half their wealth to philanthropy.
In 2011, Bill Gates stated he would prioritize ensuring environmentally friendly and cost-effective energy over selecting the next 10 presidents.
In 2011, Bill Gates' relationship with financier Jeffrey Epstein started, just a few years after Epstein was convicted for procuring a child for prostitution.
In March 2013, Jeffrey Epstein and Bill Gates met with Nobel Committee chair Thorbjørn Jagland at his residence in Strasbourg, France, to discuss the Nobel Prize.
In October 2013, the International Peace Institute, which has received millions in grants from the Gates Foundation, received a $2.5 million "community engagement" grant.
In 2013, Bill Gates regained the top position as the wealthiest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
In 2013, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was identified as the world's largest charitable foundation.
In the fall of 2013, Bill Gates visited Jeffrey Epstein's house with his wife, despite her declared discomfort.
On February 5, 2014, Windows 8.1 was the last version of the OS released before Gates left the chair of the firm to John W. Thompson.
In February 2014, Bill Gates stepped down as chairman of Microsoft to become technology advisor at the firm to support newly appointed CEO Satya Nadella.
In March 2014, Bill Gates discussed climate change, charitable activities, tech companies, and the state of America in an interview published in Rolling Stone magazine. Gates identified innovation as the "real driver of progress". He also expressed concern about potential harms of superintelligence.
In June 2014, Carlos Slim regained the top position as the wealthiest person, then lost it back to Bill Gates.
In 2014, Bill Gates stepped down as chairman of the board at Microsoft and became technology advisor to CEO Satya Nadella.
In 2014, Bill Gates was ranked first on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans.
In a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, Bill Gates discussed his views on religion, stating that the moral systems of religion are super important and that science has filled some of the realm that religion used to fill.
At the TED conference in March 2015, Bill Gates recommended Nick Bostrom's book 'Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies' and warned that the world was unprepared for the next pandemic.
In 2015, Bill Gates announced Mission Innovation and Breakthrough Energy at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, committing $1 billion to innovative energy startups.
In 2015, Bill Gates wrote about the challenge of transitioning the world's energy system from fossil fuels to sustainable energy sources, advocating for increased government funding and private-sector investment.
On January 31, 2016, Bill Gates was the guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, discussing his relationships, Microsoft's start, and habits. He selected Willie Nelson's "Blue Skies", Steven Pinker's "The Better Angels of Our Nature", and a DVD Collection of Lectures from The Teaching Company as items for a desert island.
In 2016, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates were jointly awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom for their philanthropic work.
In 2016, Bill Gates revealed that he was color-blind.
In April 2017, Bill Gates partnered with Roger Federer in the Match for Africa 4, raising $2 million for children in Africa. They played against John Isner and Mike McCready, winning the match.
In October 2017, Bill Gates was surpassed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as the richest person in the world.
In November 2017, Bill Gates pledged $50 million to the Dementia Discovery Fund and an additional $50 million to Alzheimer's research startups.
Between 1995 and 2017, Forbes magazine ranked Bill Gates as the world's wealthiest person for 18 out of 24 years.
In 2017, Bill Gates was ranked first on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans.
On March 5, 2018, Bill Gates and Roger Federer played in the Match for Africa 5, raising over $2.5 million. Their opponents were Jack Sock and Savannah Guthrie. Gates and Federer won the match with a score of 6-3.
In March 2018, Bill Gates met with Mohammed bin Salman in Seattle to discuss investment opportunities for Saudi Vision 2030.
In June 2018, Bill Gates offered free ebooks to all new graduates of U.S. colleges and universities.
On August 25, 2018, Bill Gates donated $600,000 through his foundation via UNICEF to help flood victims in Kerala, India.
Paul Allen passed away in October 2018. Gates and Allen repaired their relationship and remained friends until Allen's death.
In 2018, Jeff Bezos surpassed Bill Gates' wealth on The World's Billionaires list.
In June 2019, Bill Gates stated that losing the mobile operating system race to Android was his biggest mistake.
In November 2019, Bill Gates once again became the richest person in the world after a 48% increase in Microsoft shares, surpassing Bezos.
A 2019 New York Times article reported that Bill Gates's relationship with financier Jeffrey Epstein started in 2011 and continued for some years.
In 2019, Bill Gates appeared in a cameo role in the series finale of Silicon Valley.
In 2019, Bill Gates began to divest from fossil fuels, acknowledging limited practical impact but expressing concerns about personally benefiting if his alternative efforts fail.
In 2019, Bill Gates started trying to convince Joe Manchin to support a climate bill.
In 2019, Melinda Gates began consulting with divorce attorneys, reportedly due in part to concerns over Bill Gates's ties with Jeffrey Epstein.
In March 2020, Microsoft announced that Bill Gates would be leaving his board positions at Berkshire Hathaway and Microsoft to dedicate himself to philanthropic endeavors, including climate change, global health and development, and education.
In a November 2020 interview with actress Rashida Jones, Bill Gates endorsed the wearing of face masks as a means to public reopening.
On December 8, 2020, Bill Gates delivered his thoughts at the Singapore FinTech Festival on "Building Infrastructure for Resilience: What the COVID-19 Response Can Teach Us About How to Scale Financial Inclusion".
In December 2020, Bill Gates called for the U.S. federal government to create institutes for clean energy research, similar to the National Institutes of Health.
In 2020, The United States had its presidential election which led to the January 6 United States Capitol attack.
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bill Gates' foundation established the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator to hasten the development and evaluation of new and repurposed drugs and biologics to treat patients for COVID-19.
William H. Gates Sr., Bill Gates' father, passed away in 2020.
As of February 2021, Bill Gates and Anthony Fauci frequently collaborate on matters, including vaccines and other medical innovations, to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
On February 18, 2021, after Facebook and Twitter banned Donald Trump, Bill Gates said a permanent ban of Trump "would be a shame" and would be an "extreme measure".
In April 2021, Bill Gates was criticized for suggesting pharmaceutical companies should hold onto patents for COVID-19 vaccines, opposing the TRIPS waiver.
On May 3, 2021, Bill and Melinda Gates announced their decision to divorce after more than 27 years of marriage.
In May 2021, it was reported that Bill Gates stepped down before Microsoft's board finished its investigation into Gates's alleged inappropriate sexual relationship with a Microsoft employee.
In June 2021, Bill Gates's company TerraPower and Warren Buffett's PacifiCorp announced the first sodium nuclear reactor in Wyoming.
On August 2, 2021, Bill and Melinda Gates' divorce was finalized, with financial details remaining confidential.
In August 2021, Bill Gates said the reason he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein was because Gates hoped Epstein could provide money for philanthropic work, though nothing came of the idea. Gates admitted it "was a huge mistake to spend time with him".
In October 2021, Bill Gates's eldest daughter, Jennifer, married Olympic equestrian Nayel Nassar.
In 2021, Bill Gates experienced a shift in public opinion due to his divorce announcement, information about romantic pursuits, and his response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, Bill Gates offered free ebooks to all college and university students around the world.
On May 10, 2022, Bill Gates announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and was experiencing mild symptoms, despite having received three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
In July 2022, Bill Gates reiterated his Giving Pledge commitment, announcing on Twitter that he planned to give 'virtually all' his wealth to charity.
In September 2022, Politico published an exposé critical of NGO leadership at the helm of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic response, written in cooperation with the German newspaper Die Welt, including criticisms of the interconnectivity of the non-profits with Bill Gates.
In 2022, Bill Gates published "How to Prevent the Next Pandemic", which proposes a "Global Epidemic Response and Mobilization" (GERM) team with annual funding of $1 billion under the WHO.
In 2022, Bill Gates supported the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which aimed to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2022, the educational streamer Wondrium produced the series "Solving for Zero: The Search for Climate Innovation" inspired by Bill Gates' book 'How to Avoid a Climate Disaster'.
In February 2023, Bill Gates confirmed that he was dating Paula Hurd, the widow of former Oracle Corporation and Hewlett-Packard chief executive Mark Hurd.
In March 2023, Bill Gates's eldest daughter, Jennifer, gave birth to her first child.
On May 6, 2023, Bill Gates gave a commencement address at Northern Arizona University, where he received an honorary doctorate and shared insights on climate change.
In 2023, Bill Gates was ranked sixth on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans with a wealth of $115.0 billion.
In 2023, Bill Gates was the interviewee in an episode of the Amol Rajan Interviews series on BBC Two, and was the subject of an episode of the UK Channel 4 series The Billionaires Who Made Our World.
In 2023, it was reported that Jeffrey Epstein threatened to expose an alleged affair Bill Gates had with a Russian bridge player.
In October 2024, Bill Gates's eldest daughter, Jennifer, gave birth to her second child.
In October 2024, The New York Times reported that Bill Gates donated $50 million to Future Forward USA Action, a 501(c)(4) organization supporting Kamala Harris's 2024 presidential campaign.
In 2024, following the couple's divorce and Melinda French Gates' resignation as co-chair, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was renamed the Gates Foundation, with Bill Gates as its sole chair.
In February 2025, Bill Gates described Paula Hurd as a "serious girlfriend" on the Today show, stating he had "moved past the divorce".
In February 2025, Bill Gates' memoir, Source Code, was published.
On February 17, 2025, according to Forbes, Bill Gates' estimated net worth was US$108.8 billion, making him the 16th richest individual in the world.
According to Forbes, as of May 2025, Bill Gates' net worth stood at US$115.1 billion, making him the thirteenth-richest individual in the world.
Bill Gates published the first of three planned memoirs, "Source Code: My Beginnings", in 2025.
In 2025, Bill Gates made a guest appearance via video call in Hindi TV show Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2.
In 2025, Bill Gates stated in an interview with Raj Shammi that his children will inherit less than 1% of his wealth.
In 2025, in his memoir Source Code, Bill Gates wrote that he believed he was autistic.
In an interview with the BBC in 2025, Bill Gates stated that his charitable donations have totaled $100 billion, of which $60 billion have gone to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
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