Bill Gates Research Paper

Microsoft is one of the biggest companies that has developed computer software over the years. They sell game systems such as the Xbox 360 and the Xbox One. They also produce a computer operating system called Windows. It was with only one man's entrepreneurial idea that started and sparked the company back in April 4, 1975. Although college is a traditional path to acquire a successful career, entrepreneurship can also lead to a successful fulfilling career.

A man named Bill Gates or William Henry Gates III is the entrepreneur of the company, Microsoft. Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955 in Seattle, WA. The Gates family was an upper middle class family consisting of Will Gates Sr., Mary Gates and Bills two sisters. His mother was a teacher for a short time, was involved in charities and spent the majority of her time raising her children. Bills father went to school to study law.

As a boy he was interested in computers starting at the age of 13 and also was an excellent student in math, science, and English. Bill loved to read as a child and spend a lot of time by himself. His parents enrolled him in Lakeside School, a computer company at age 13.

Lakeside offered students time to work on computers. Bill began spending his free time learning what he could do with

computers. He even wrote a computer tic-tac-toe program in basic computer language that let you play against the computer. Later he completed high school and he got an almost perfect SAT score. During his time at Lakeside School Bill became friends with Paul Allen. They shared in interest in computers and that’s what sparked their friendship. Although they shared an interest in computers they disagreed on many ideas or who should be in charge of a project they were working on.
Bill enrolled at Harvard University in 1973 thinking he might pursue a career in law. However instead of doing his school studies he would spend much of his time on the computer than in his classes. Bill and his friend Paul Allen had gone separate ways to attend college but still stayed in contact. Both men dropped out of the universities and moved to Boston in order to work for Honeywell. The two boys saw a computer tool kit and were fascinated with it. They contacted the company and said they could make a software to run the Altair Computer. They spent the next 2 months writing the software for this computer. They tested the software and it worked so both Paul and Bill were hired to work for Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS). In 1975, Gates and Bill formed a partnership called Micro-Soft. This was a mix of "micro-computer" and "software".

In 1978 Bill moved the company's operations to Bellevue Washington. He had 25 employees that were responsible for many aspects of the operations. He placed himself at the head of Microsoft that already earned $2.5 million. At this time Bill was only 23 years old. In between 1978 and 1981 the development of Microsoft skyrocketed. They went from 25 to 128 employees and revenue went from $4 million to $16 million. Later he would take an initial public offering of $21 per share. Bill Gates had 45% of the company’s total 24.7 million shares. Gates had a stake was $234 million of $520 million. When the share went to $90.75 he instantly became a billionaire!
In the 1980s there was more and more tech companies trying to get their own operating system such as OS/2 to replace the old MS-DOS. Gates did not worry about this and instead he pushed ahead with windows. Microsoft had to go through many trials with Federal Trade Commission through the 1990s. There were allegations of Microsoft making unfair deals with manufacturers who installed Microsoft software. Eventually Bill found out how to get around the pressure.
Currently Bill Gates has a net worth of 79.2 billion dollars. He married Melinda French in 1989 at the age of 37. She was an executive at Microsoft. They built a home for themselves in Lake Washington and had three children. Bill Gates has donated a total of 28 billion dollars so far to charities and events. When his mother died in 1994 Bill took a look at his life, reevaluated what was important and decided to follow in his mother’s footsteps. He decided to use some of his wealth for charities. Bill Gates was wanted to become a millionaire by the time he was 30 but he became a billionaire when he was 31.
The internet has revolutionized the way we live our lives. When the personal computer got popular it could help with everyday task. The need for a software to use the computer came in need. Microsoft then became known for their great operating system and other software’s to help get things done.
Bill Gates is still continually affiliated with Microsoft.

However Bill realized that he wanted to become a civic leader. Bill then with his wife started the William H. Gates Foundation. This was dedicated to help world health, education, and investment in very low income communities. In 2000 Bill stepped down from CEO to give it to his college friend Steve Ballmer who had been with Microsoft since 1980. Gates put himself in the position of chief software architect. Then on June 27, 2008 he decided to instead give the majority of his time to the foundation. In February 2014 he took on a new position as technology advisor instead so he could devote even more time to the

foundation.
Bill Gates took his love for computers and developed software, programs and was a leader in computer technological innovation. He demonstrates that you can have a successful career as an entrepreneur with drive and a dream.