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Hello, dear readers of Valery Kharlamov’s blog! Today we will find out who Bill Gates is, how he managed to achieve success and what features his character has.
Childhood and study
Born October 25, 1955 in the Northwestern United States. Bill was the middle child, and the only boy in the family, having two sisters — the older Christy and the younger Libby. Her father, William Henry Gates, was a famous lawyer at the time, and her mother, Mary Maxwell, was a school teacher. She was also involved in charity work and held an honorary post as a member of the board of the University of Seattle.
Despite the responsible work, parents found free time to spend quality time with their children. Due to the fact that they saw in their children individuals who should be respected, they communicated with them on the same level. They were allowed to participate in adult conversations, sharing their reasoning and conclusions. When our hero was about 11 years old, he won first place in a competition held by a pastor from his parish, having memorized a text that was not at all childish — the Sermon on the Mount. And not just learned, but carefully analyzed each thesis on the shelves. The priest himself was amazed at how deep thinking such a young creature had.
The first problems and the new school
By the age of 12, the genius began to have difficulties in communicating, both with peers and in the family. Especially often there were conflicts with the mother. The formation of identity, the beginning of external and internal changes, that is, the transformation from a baby, a child into a young guy. The desire to show one’s potential and opportunities led to the fact that school performance «came to naught». The behavior irritated those around him, because he played the role of a clown, wanting to attract attention to himself.
Due to the fact that the parents turned out to be conscious and attentive, instead of punishments, restrictions and other elements of emotional, or even physical violence, they went with him to a psychologist. To understand the essence of the problem and start building relationships with the son again, so that there is mutual understanding and intimacy. The specialist recommended taking into account the characteristics of the character of the child. If traditional methods of education are not suitable, then abandon them.
At the family council, it was decided to transfer him to another school, Likeside. And it turned out to be correct, because in studies things started to get better. And the math teacher considered him the best student, explaining that Bill managed to somehow find the shortest way to solve the problem.
Introduction to the world of computers
A landmark event at that time was the purchase of a computer for the school with the money of the Mothers’ Club, who considered it necessary to introduce new technologies for the fuller development of their children. From that day on, our hero lost his peace. Having made friends with Paul Allen, after school, sometimes until the morning, they spent in front of this miracle of technology. Even on weekends, instead of playing in the yard with the guys, the two future computer geniuses mastered the science of programming.
By the way, the parents acted wisely, taking responsibility for the bills issued for the use of the computer. They pay for education in order to give a decent future, but for free time and other interests, he must worry about himself. Therefore, literally a year later, the boy wrote an application specifically for playing tic-tac-toe. At the age of 15, he developed a program to regulate traffic, while earning about 20 thousand dollars. Then, by the age of 17, he created another program that calculates and distributes energy in the Bonneville Dam. This creation brought him a little more money — 30 thousand.
After graduating from Likeside, in 1973, the computer genius had to enter Harvard. I had to — because it was the parents’ idea for the son to continue the clan of lawyers, and at that time he was only interested in poker and programming.
Becoming a programmer career and successful activity
In 1975, Paul, a friend of the future billionaire, fell into the hands of Popular Mechanics magazine, on the cover of which «flaunted» the first computer available to almost every buyer, because it cost $ 397. Only here is one bad luck — it did not have software, which two friends decided to quickly “know”, until other craftsmen managed to connect and took away the right to the championship.
Microsoft
They even had to lie to representatives of the MITS company that they would soon present the program, although in fact nothing really had been done yet. But, despite this, the presentation of their brainchild, written in the BASIC language, was a resounding success. Therefore, the guys soon decided to open their own company, which they called «Micro-soft», a little later removing the hyphen. I had to leave Harvard, or rather, he was expelled due to absenteeism.
The expectations of his relatives did not materialize, but despite what happened, in 2007 he still managed to get an accounting degree. Moreover, taking the place of honor of the best student in the stream for 1977.
Bill was simply obsessed with the computer world, and the idea of uXNUMXbuXNUMXbcreating a simple PC that every inhabitant of the planet would have was haunting. He and Paul initially worked in New Mexico, but things didn’t go very well. Their first customers went bankrupt, and the guys themselves were so laid out in the work that they could fall asleep, listening to the wishes or requests of clients.
Contract with IBM
In 1979, it was decided to return to their homeland, where they received a tempting offer from IBM, they wanted two smart comrades to create an operating system. The fact that the choice fell on «Micro-soft» happened thanks to Mary, the mother of our hero, because at that time she was personally acquainted with the leaders of IBM and was able to convince them to believe in such a young, but very promising company.
And indeed, the guys did not disappoint, having won the championship in the computer market thanks to the MS-DOS system, which later became the main operating system based on Intel. Only initially, the founder of Microsoft bought it for $50 from Seattle Computer, modified and renamed it, and subsequently sold the license to IBM executives. Then he took to himself the creator of this «raw» system — Tim Patterson.
World leadership
First Windows
In 1983, the first manipulator appeared — a computer mouse, and in 1985 the first Windows system saw the world, thanks to which Gates’s biography received a completely new round, because literally in 1986 he became a billionaire. Two years later, his company rightfully occupies a leading position in the world, having made its leader the richest person on the planet in 1998.
To prove the popularity of the corporation, I will give examples: in 1993, the number of registered users of Windows was 25 million. And in 1995, Windows 95 broke sales records because seven million copies were sold within 14 days of release. Already in early 1996, the figure increased to 25 million copies. In 1998, the version of Windows 98 was released to the world, after it Windows 2000, and, by the way, it is considered the most convenient and high-quality.
First problems and corporate restructuring
In 1999, Microsoft got in trouble because of Bill’s high ambitions. In an effort to conquer the world, he allowed himself rude methods in the fight against competitors, in particular with the Netscape Corporation. Because of this, he attracted the attention of the Antimonopoly Committee, which considered that our hero does not allow other companies to exist and filed a lawsuit against him, demanding that the existing monopoly be divided into separate structures.
The billionaire resigned as CEO of Microsoft, taking the position of head of the board of directors. He also came up with the post of chief software architect for himself, but already in 2006 he removed all powers from himself, taking up charity and other projects. At the moment, Steve Ballmer has taken over the reins of the corporation, with whom they have maintained relations since Harvard, as they managed to make friends while living on the same floor.
Family and character
The obsession with work did not leave room for other interests at all, therefore, even as a 30-year-old man, our hero did not think at all about starting a family. But still, in 1994, he tied the knot with the manager of his own corporation, whose name is Melinda French. Two years later, they had Jennifer, then a son, Rory, and another daughter, Phoebe.
The billionaire adopted the features of the upbringing of his parents. Despite all his wealth, he made a will, according to which a decent education would be organized for each child and paid 10 million dollars. The rest of the capital will go to charitable organizations. This was done specifically to provide a basis for the development and increase of finances.
Charity
To date, the famous couple has contributed almost 20 billion to the development of health and education. Almost a million for vaccination and many more funds for various projects. For example, such as Teledesic, to ensure the launch of satellites into orbit to improve the quality of telecommunications. Or Corbis to support the development of the largest archive of photographs and art that is not available due to being held in private collections.
Gates also made a wonderful gift to the residents and guests of his hometown by exhibiting a collection of works by Leonardo da Vinci at the Museum of Art.
Thanks to philanthropy and indifference to the problems of the underprivileged, Time magazine honored the Gates spouses with the title of «People of the Year» in 2005. And our genius, for his contribution to the fight against poverty, was awarded the title of Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Books
The billionaire is a multifaceted personality, because, in addition to programming and running a large business, in 1999 he wrote and published a book together with Collins Hemingway, Business at the Speed of Thought. Which in a very short time received the title of bestseller, since almost every entrepreneur and, in general, a person who wants to achieve heights, considered it his duty to read the recommendations of the richest man on the planet.
Hobbies
He loves playing bridge, golf and speed. Due to the fact that he allowed himself to be reckless, he once even went to prison, which, by the way, did not prevent him from breaking the rules in the future. The lack of seat belts, which he basically does not use, adds to the sharpness of the tremendous speed.
It is not surprising that the house in which our hero lives is simply completely «stuffed» with the latest technologies. It consists of three pavilions designed for completely different purposes. For example, the first one is for entertaining guests, the central one is for the owners themselves, and the third, respectively, is residential. At the entrance, they are given a special electronic pin, which is designed to remember the preferences of the person who visited them. And next time all the programs will be set up specifically for him, for example, a music channel or a series.
Do you know how a billionaire replenishes energy and generates new ideas? With the help of a trampoline, which is located in the central dome. He finds it helps to relax and concentrate just as much as yoga or sitting in a rocking chair.
Condition
His fortune for 2017 is $ 90,2 billion, which allows him to legally take first place in the ranking of the richest people in the world according to Forbes magazine for the fourth time. Only this status was brought to him not only by perseverance and faith in his idea, but also by the willingness to devote himself to the last to his work. He believes that a person must work hard, even as a waiter at McDonald’s, or even as a cleaner, only then will he be worthy of respect.
He also believes that in the old days, our great-grandfathers would have been happy with absolutely any kind of activity, just to be able to provide for their families. Therefore, he urges everyone not to neglect any position if it seems not quite presentable. Over time, you will hone your skills, and then choose the right thing.
Conclusion
And that’s all for today, dear readers! I also recommend that you read the article “Biography of Cornelius Vanderbilt, one of the richest US entrepreneurs of the 19th century,” about another richest man in the United States, who also managed to win the championship and recognition of the whole world. Inspiration to you and success!
The material was prepared by Zhuravina Alina.