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No single name is more synonymous with the computer revolution than Bill Gates. Gates was the driving force behind Microsoft, the world's most powerful and influential technology company. It is the rare individual, business, or school in this county that doesn't rely on some form of technology developed by Microsoft.
Born in 1955, Gates was already programming computers at the age of 13 and had sold his first program at the age of 17. Gates attended Harvard University, but dropped out to devote his time to his new company Microsoft (short for microcomputer software).
It would be another six years, with the development of MS-DOS and the adoption of MS-DOS in the very first IBM personal computers, that Microsoft began to emerge as a major player in the technology world.
The 1980s saw Gates introduce Microsoft Word (1983), Windows (1985) and the entire Microsoft Office Suite by the end of the decade. By 1990, this tiny company had reached $1 billion in annual sales and had revolutionized the way America did business.
Gates' contributions go far wider than just the technology world. He is the single most prolific philanthropist in history, with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation having already granted over $7 billion to causes ranging from education to global health.
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