BEN: Hey there, Little Fox readers! This week on People in the News, Olivia is going to tell you about Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, a very successful computer software company. Bill is also one of the wealthiest people in the world and a passionate philanthropist—someone who believes in using his money to help others.
OLIVIA: Bill was born on October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington. His father was a lawyer, and his mother worked with United Way, an organization aimed at improving education and fighting poverty. Bill was especially close to her, and she influenced him quite a bit.
As a child Bill displayed many traits that would benefit him later, when he entered the business world. He was very competitive in sports and board games, and he loved to read. He particularly enjoyed reading reference books like the encyclopedia.
Despite his good grades in school, Bill's parents became worried because he often seemed quiet and withdrawn. They wondered if he was bored by school and needed a more challenging environment. When Bill was 13, he transferred to the Lakeside School, a prestigious school in Seattle where students had to work hard to get good grades. He did very well there, especially in math and science.
At Lakeside School, Bill also discovered something that would shape the direction of his life: a computer lab. The year was 1968, and most schools and businesses didn't own computers —the personal computer hadn't even been invented yet. Bill was mesmerized by the computer, and he spent hours in the lab, experimenting and learning how to write computer programs.
Bill was only 15 when he made his first computer-related sale. He and his friend Paul Allen had written a computer program called "Traf-O-Data," which kept track of traffic patterns in the city of Seattle. The city purchased this program from the boys, paying $20,000 for it. Not bad for two teenagers!
After Bill graduated high school, he enrolled at Harvard University. One day he and Paul read about a new personal computer called the Altair. They contacted the company that made the computer and offered to write software for it. The company accepted their proposal, and the two friends spent a couple of months developing the program.
BEN: That's pretty impressive. But did their software actually work?
OLIVIA: Yep, it worked perfectly. And soon after the project was completed, Bill dropped out of Harvard, and he and Paul formed their own company, Microsoft.
In addition to being a brilliant computer programmer, Bill proved to be a very shrewd businessman. In 1980 the company IBM was developing a new personal computer, and they hired Microsoft to write the operating system for it. Bill and Paul called the software MS-DOS. Rather than sell MS-DOS only to IBM, Bill had the smart idea to charge the company a licensing fee for it. This way he could license the same software to other computer manufacturers—and make even more money! Within two years, thirty percent of all the computers in the world were running on MS-DOS.
By 1986 Bill was a millionaire; a year later he was a billionaire. For many years Bill has been ranked as the wealthiest person in the world. His wealth peaked in 1999, when it reached $101 billion. Can you imagine having that much money, Ben?
BEN: Yes, Olivia, and right now I'm imagining everything I would buy!
OLIVIA: Well, luckily for the world, Bill was influenced by his mother's generosity, and he turned to philanthropy. In 1999 he and his wife formed the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which focuses on issues related to health, poverty, and education. The foundation provides money to scientists and doctors working to fight malaria and other diseases that affect people in poor countries. Bill and Melinda also fund efforts to eradicate hunger and improve living conditions around the world. For instance, they work with researchers developing crops that are resistant to droughts or floods, and they're exploring ways to improve sanitation and water supplies in poor villages. They're also working in the U.S. to ensure that everyone gets a high-quality education. Being a computer guy, Bill is committed to making sure that every library in the U.S. has computers and high-speed Internet access.
Bill doesn't just write checks for these things; he is very involved in the whole process. He has researched how to be effective with philanthropy, and he makes sure the foundation's money is being spent wisely. A few times a year, Bill and Melinda travel to some of the world's poorest places so they can see firsthand just how awful poverty is and measure their foundation's progress. I don't know about you, Ben, but I find it amazing that a man who can afford to stay at any hotel in the world actually sleeps in a mud hut once in a while!
Bill became so passionate about his philanthropy that he decided to stop working at Microsoft in 2008.
Since then he has worked full-time at the foundation. In 2010 Bill and Melinda, along with billionaire Warren Buffett, began asking other billionaires to sign the Giving Pledge. Those who sign it promise to give away at least half of their wealth, either during their lifetimes or when they die. And that's what Bill plans to do. Almost all of his fortune will eventually go toward helping people around the world. In fact, he's no longer the richest person in the world simply because he's already given so much away!
BEN: Now that's what I call generous. If I had billions of dollars, I'd sign the Giving Pledge too.
We'll see you soon, Little Fox readers, with another edition of People in the News.