Bill Gates

Overview

Bill Gates was born in Seattle, Washington, in 1955. In eighth grade, his school’s Mothers’ Club used money from a rummage sale to buy time on a computer, and he wrote his first program, a tic-tac-toe game. He and his childhood friend Paul Allen spent hours learning to code, and in 1975 Gates left Harvard University to start a software company with Allen called Microsoft. Microsoft’s software helped bring personal computers into homes, schools, and offices, and Windows, first released in 1985, went on to run on millions of computers around the world. Gates led Microsoft as CEO until 2000. That same year, he and his then-wife, Melinda French Gates, created a charity now called the Gates Foundation. Today he leads the foundation, which works to fight deadly diseases, help mothers and babies stay healthy, and lift people out of poverty around the world.

Why He Matters: 

Bill Gates turned a teenage love of coding into software that changed how people work, learn, and connect. His story shows that curiosity, practice, and a willingness to take risks, like starting a company before finishing college, can lead to a worldwide impact. He has also used his success to help others. In 2025, he announced that his foundation would give away virtually all of his fortune, which he estimates at about $200 billion, before it closes at the end of 2045.