Bill Gates
William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend Paul Allen. Following Microsoft's initial public offering in 1986 and the subsequent increase in its stock price, Gates became the world's then-youngest billionaire in 1987, at age 31. Forbes magazine ranked him as the world's wealthiest person for 18 out of 24 years between 1995 and 2017, including 13 years consecutively from 1995 to 2007. Gates became the first centibillionaire in 1999, when his net worth briefly surpassed US$100 billion. According to Forbes, as of February 2026, his net worth stood at US$107.7 billion, making him the 18th-wealthiest individual in the world.
Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Gates was privately educated at Lakeside School, where he befriended Allen and developed his computing interests. In 1973, he enrolled at Harvard University, where he took classes including Math 55 and graduate-level computer science courses, but he dropped out in 1975 to co-found and lead Microsoft. He served as its CEO for the next 25 years and also became president and chairman of the board when the company was incorporated in 1981. Succeeded as CEO by Steve Ballmer in 2000, he transitioned to chief software architect, a position he held until 2008. He stepped down as chairman of the board in 2014 and became technology adviser to CEO Satya Nadella and other Microsoft leaders, a position he still holds. He resigned from the board in 2020.
Over time, Gates reduced his role at Microsoft to focus on his philanthropic work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest private charitable organization, which he and his then-wife, Melinda French Gates, co-chaired from 2000 until 2024. Focusing on areas including health, education, and poverty alleviation, Gates became known for his efforts to combat transmissible diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, and polio. After French Gates resigned as co-chair following the couple's divorce, the foundation was renamed the Gates Foundation, with Gates as its sole chair.
Gates is the founder and chairman of several other companies, including BEN, Cascade Investment, TerraPower, Gates Ventures, and Breakthrough Energy. In 2010, he and Warren Buffett founded the Giving Pledge, whereby they and other billionaires pledged to give at least half their wealth to philanthropy. Named as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century by Time magazine in 1999, he has received numerous other honors and accolades, including a Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded jointly to him and French Gates in 2016 for their philanthropic work. The subject of several documentary films, he published the first of three planned memoirs, Source Code: My Beginnings, in 2025.
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Fotos
Películas (37)
Instadocs: AI Gone Wild
2026 · Self (archive footage) - Co-founder, Microsoft
Finding Satoshi
2026 · Self
Breakdown: 1975
2025 · Self
AI and the Future of Us: An Oprah Winfrey Special
2024 · Self
Yes I Am: The Ric Weiland Story
2023 · Self
Lab Leak Liars: How China and Authorities Deceived Us
2023 · Self
Icahn: The Restless Billionaire
2022 · Self
Monopoly: Who Owns the World?
2021 · Self (archive footage)
Tech Billionaires: Bill Gates
2021 · Himself
Toilettes sans tabou
2020 · Bill Gates
Derek DelGaudio's In & of Itself
2020 · Self - Audience Member (uncredited)
Pandemic: The People, The Conspiracy, The Journey
2020
One World: Together at Home
2020 · Self
Aces & Knaves
2019 · Self
trustWHO
2018 · Self (archive footage)
The New Fire
2017 · Self
Mosquito: Judgment Day For A Killer
2017
Becoming Warren Buffett
2017 · Himself (archive footage)
Meet the Donors: Does Money Talk?
2016 · Self (archive footage)
Top Spin
2014 · Self - CEO, Microsoft
Steve Jobs: Visionary Genius
2012 · Self - Microsoft Founder
Heist: Who Stole the American Dream?
2012 · Self (archive footage)
Das Milliardenversprechen
2012 · Himself
Bill Gates: How a Geek Changed the World
2011 · himself
Freakonomics
2010 · Himself
Roslings värld
2009 · Self - (archive footage)
All Things Digital: Steve Jobs and Bill Gates
2007 · Himself
Buffett and Gates Go Back to School
2006 · Himself
Live 8
2005 · Self
A Brief History of the PC
2005 · Self
Surplus: Terrorized Into Being Consumers
2003 · Self
Leben nach Microsoft
2001 · himself
The Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires
1996 · Self - Co-Founder, Microsoft
Microsoft Judgment Day: Doom
1995 · William J. Blazkowicz III (Doom Slayer)
Visions of Heaven and Hell
1994 · Self
Microsoft: How to Succeed in Business with Workgroup Computing
1992 · Self
Citizen Steve
1987 · Self - Businessman
Series (39)
America Who Are You?
2026 · Self (archive footage)
Skavlan & Sverige
2025 · Self - Guest
What's Next? The Future with Bill Gates
2024 · Self
Joko Winterscheidt Presents: The World's Most Dangerous Show
2023 · Self
Joe Montana: Cool Under Pressure
2022 · Self (archive footage)
Power On: The Story of Xbox
2021 · Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Amol Rajan Interviews
2021 · Self - Interviewed Guest
Coronavirus, Explained
2020 · Self
Retro Tech
2019 · Self - Environmentalist & Philanthropist
Maischberger
2019 · Self
Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates
2019 · Self
Axios
2018 · Self
Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj
2018 · Self (archive footage)
You Quiz on the Block
2018 · Self
Explained
2018 · Self
My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman
2018 · Self
Trump: An American Dream
2017 · Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015 · Self - Guest
The Late Late Show with James Corden
2015 · Self - Guest
Silicon Valley
2014 · Bill Gates
Late Night with Seth Meyers
2014 · Self
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014 · Self
Duels
2014 · Self
Q&A
2008 · Self - Panellist
The Big Bang Theory
2007 · Bill Gates
Our Best
2003 · Self
Click
2000 · Self
maybrit illner
1999 · Self
Nerds 2.0.1: A Brief History of the Internet
1998 · Himself (co-founder, Microsoft)
Sabine Christiansen
1998 · Self
Im Dialog
1997 · self
The Daily Show
1996 · Self - Guest, Self
Triumph of the Nerds
1996
Frasier
1993 · Bill Gates
Countryfile
1988 · Self
Newsnight
1980 · Self
CBS News Sunday Morning
1979 · Self
60 Minutes
1968 · Self
Bambi
1948 · Self