Category: Bill Gates

Bill Gates is an enthusiastic and courageous man, born in 1955 in the USA, He had a passion for computers and began programming and tinkering with computers when he was very young. He developed his own version of basic computer science while attending a top University. He grew the foundation of Microsoft as a partnership with his childhood friend Paul Allen. Microsoft became an incorporated company in 1981. (Leadership and Development, 2020)

Bill Gates is renowned in the business world often ranking in the top 10 of most admired business leaders. Up to the point of him retirement from Microsoft, Gates was stated by many as being a very demanding and slightly abrasive boss who encourages creativity and innovation and recognizes individual and team achievements and success. Gates would request his employees to present reports out of their ideas and findings to him on a regular basis. During meetings he was known to regularly interrupt his employees in the presentation of their ideas in order to question and challenge facts and assumptions, this shows me that Gates presented a more transactional leadership style, as he influenced employees to bring ideas, challenged them and influenced what they have to offer for a positive end result. (Leadership and Development, 2020) I feel that this was positive for Gates and his employees as it helps them to improve their ideas and creativity on the other hand the negative aspect of this is that it was said that Gates was very abrasive and could come off as being rude which I feel did impact the employees view of him causing most not to like him. In my own opinion, I think the transactional leadership style was a positive approach for Gates as it did bring new ideas from his team and it allowed for more productivity amongst his team a worker which contributed to the innovation of Microsoft practices.

Bill Gates’s leadership style is presented as being autocratic style, however, most leaders including Gates can show more than one style of leadership such as the stated transactional style. Different styles of leadership can be adopted depending on the situation or outcome, however, most leaders have one or two influential styles that are noticeable in the majority of the time, It would not have been possible that Gates would have been as successful as he was if he only just adopted an authoritarian style. The authoritarian style is known to not be conducive to innovation as the controlling aspect of it hinders a follower’s ability to be creative. In this aspect Gates implemented a transformational style.

Authoritarian leaders will always like to keep control of what they’re leading. Gates required so much control that he even signed off the expenses of Steve Ballmer second in command of the company at the time. This style of leadership is a very effective style for use in emergency situations or for where quick decisions must be made where a situation demands it making it a requirement. Much of Bill Gates’s success can be attributed to his quick decision-making process. I feel that this was a positive aspect to Bill Gates’s leadership as it allows him to make quick decisions and to get objectives completed on time and having control, it also allowed Gates to smoothly get what he wants and he visions and insertions are done the way he wants, however, the negative aspect of this is that Gates authoritarian style tends to not be conducive to the innovation of the company as the controlling aspect of it can put a dent in a follower’s ability to be creative, which can affect the ability to come up with ideas thus him having to challenge his employees on their ideas as he wants them to bring it out. In my own opinion, I feel that this style he used was an effective one as it was very effective for use in emergency situations, It helped Gates get out of a serious situation.

By implementing the transformational style to his leadership style allowed Gates to conduct innovations into Microsoft as transformational leadership is a concept that is based on the followers of the leader, being inspired by the leader to achieve better outcomes for the company or organization, Gates use this concept in Microsoft to inspire his workers to be more productive and more importantly to be more creative in mindset, this allowed him to get a more creative aspect to his ideas from his workers bringing extraordinary outcome for his company, I believe that this was a positive aspect to Bill Gates leadership as it allows him to make decisions and to get objective complete on time, it also allows his to have a large array of innovation in Microsoft, the negative aspect of this is due to Gates challenging nature the decision making process of these creatures may become larger due to Gates personality. In my own opinion, I feel that this is an important trait that Gates used in his leadership style as it proved to be a successful style that brought forth a multi-billion dollar company.

Effective leadership has been a success factor of Bill Gates in his reign at the helm of Microsoft Company. Bill Gates’s leadership played very successfully in scheduling commitment at the top of his priority. One way Bill Gates used to achieve these achievements was his tinkering with the present-day managerial skills that have become widespread all over the world. Bill Gates aligned his characteristic leadership with the company’s core values. Bill Gates is a modern type of leader who pushed through these routes and delivered his team to success. Establishing and building upon these leadership traits at a tender age, Bill Gates ended up transforming the Microsoft world in a way no one could ever have imagined (Mwita, 2010). In the end, Microsoft has emerged as the world’s leading torch-illuminating software technology and internet provider solutions.

Bill Gates was born on October 28th, 1955 in region of Seattle in the USA, Washington. Gates grew up in an upper-middle-class family with an older sister and a younger sister. His father, was a promising, law student when he met his future wife. She was an athletic, outgoing student at the University of Washington, actively involved in student affairs and leadership. This lifestyle and occupation of Gates did contribute to Gates and his leadership style of Microsoft. (Biography.com, 2018) as shown Bill Gates was in the upper middle class in status and grew up with many siblings, this contributed to his leadership as he was a person who took charge of his family affairs, just like the way he takes charge at Microsoft, Gates grew up with many influences as his father was a law student, this would contribute to his leadership has it would influence his skills as a negotiator and a person who can put his point across, these are skills he would use in his leadership of Microsoft, influences from a young age.

The Gates family atmosphere was warm and close, and all three children were encouraged to be competitive and strive for excellence. Gates showed early signs of competitiveness when he coordinated family athletic games at their summer house on Puget Sound. This lifestyle and occupation of Gates did contribute to Gates his leadership style of Microsoft, contributing to his behavior in leading Microsoft as again Gates would request his employees to present and report out their ideas and findings to him on a regular basis, this shows that this influenced Gates’s behavior leadership as this style believes that leaders can be made, rather than are born and behaviors can be learned more readily than traits. (UKEssey.2018) His upbringing influenced his way of leading such as in team activities as he did and lead with his own family. I feel that this is a positive aspect of Gates as his upbringing was drawn to his style of communication and teamwork and I think that it made him a better leader. The negative aspect of this is Gates had a very strict, serious and courageous person meaning he was very determined to get things right all the time, which caused a very big demand in his workers to produce all the time new results that fit his standards, if not as stated earlier that Gates was very challenged full in new ideas. In my opinion, I believe that Bill Gates’s behavior was extremely important in his role as the leader of Microsoft as his behavior is what will inspire, influenced and motivate his workers, as Gates was a forward thinker and a determined man I think it rubbed off on his works as seeing his tenacity it motivated them to be more productive in this work, ideas, ideology and creativity to create and initiate innovation in the Microsoft company. These factors are what made Microsoft a multi-billion company.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Bill Gates’s different leadership qualities played a crucial role in the development of Microsoft, Bill Gates played a crucial role in the development of Microsoft and in achieving organizational goals. This insight was demonstrated by this critical analysis through its discussion of Autocratic, transformational, behavioral and innovative leadership. Bill Gates was able to promote trust and motivation both for himself and for his workers, typical of transformational leadership theory.

On the other hand gates, their leadership style was not always absolute as many have stated that his personality traits have got in the way of some clear ideas or new products, gates works mostly in an autocratic manner, compared to other successful men such as Steve Jobs, who leading apple also applied an autocratic leadership style, this shows how Effective the style is and how it has been a great successful style for Bill Gates. In my own opinion, I believe that the style used by Gates was a good positive aspect to his company Microsoft and it proves that suits the needs of the organization raising it to what we know to say.

Entrepreneurship

Introduction

What is an entrepreneur? Generally, the entrepreneur can be defined as a person who is willing to take greater risk to organize and operates a business. (McClelland, 1976)

Based on the author Chad Brooks in Business News Daily Senior Writer entrepreneurship is the development of a business from the ground up coming up with an idea and turning it into a profitable business.

According to Ajay Bam, a lecturer for entrepreneurship at the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business said that “Entrepreneurship is the journey of opportunity exploration and risk management to create value for profit and /or social good(F.Drucker, 1985)

All these are different perspectives and views of different leaders about entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship.

According to me, an entrepreneur is a person or a firm who invests his or her money willing to take a risk to start a business hoping for the profit in future.

In this report, I am going to describe one of the famous international entrepreneurs, Bill Gates.

Background information about Bill Gates

Gates was born on 28th October 1955, in Seattle, Washington. He is the son of William H. Gates Sr. (b. 1925) and Mary Maxwell Gates (1929-1994). His ancestry includes English, German, and Irish/Scots-Irish.

His father was a famous lawyer, and his mother served on the board of directors for First Interstate Bank System and the United Way of America. Gates’ maternal grandfather was J. W. Maxwell, a national bank president.

He grew up in an upper-middle-class family with his two sisters. Gates’s older sister is Kristi (Kristianne) and a younger sister is Libby. Gates’s family lived in the Sand Point area of Seattle a home that was damaged due to a rare tornado when Gates was seven years old.

Early in his life, he found out that his parents wanted him to go on with law career which he was not interested in. Gate was small for his age and was bullied as a child. He preferred to stay in his room where he would shout out “I’m thinking” when his mother asked him what he was doing.

At the age of 13, he enrolled in the private lakeside prep school, and he wrote his first software program

As the principal founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates is one of the most influential and richest people in the world. The recent estimates of his wealth put it at US$84.2 billion (Jan. 2017); this is the equivalent of the combined GDP of several economies. In recent years he has retired from working full-time at Microsoft and has instead concentrated on working with his charitable foundation The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Entrepreneurial attributes of Bill Gates

A Bill gate is undoubtedly the most successful drop-out of Harvard University. He left Harvard University for the sake of building his own software empire-Microsoft. In 2006, Harvard University invited Bill Gates to honor him with an honorary degree.

Bill Gates’s personality quality of quickness and ability was very much obvious at the age of 13 when he developed his first computer program for playing tic-tac. He developed Microsoft with his friend Paul Allen on 4th April 1975.

When bill gates was in school he talk big to his teachers that he would become a millionaire by the age of 30 years and he became a billionaire at the age of 31 years old.

Bill gates have an ENTJ personality. People with ENTJ personality type are often logical, critical, and objective. They tend to challenge others. Such personality types are decisive in nature. They are born leaders and are often to be strategic visionaries. Bill Gates has all these qualities.

Here is a few personality behaviors that have contributed to the success of Bill Gates:

1. Gates is a philanthropist

In 2000, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation were formed by him and his wife Melinda Gates. Bill Gates took retirement from his position of CEO and became the chief software architect to concentrate on his philanthropic goals through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. When he retired from Microsoft, he had plans in his mind to impact in the world through philanthropy. In 2005, he was bestowed with an honorary knighthood by queen Elizabeth 2 for his persistent contribution to the UK.

Here are a few domains Bill Gates has contributed in his philanthropic efforts:

• $1 billion of the money goes to scholarship programs,
• $750 million for vaccines and immunization,
• $350 million to teachers, schools, etc.
• $200 million to the library programs
• $100 million to children’s vaccine institute,
• $50 million to the Malaria Vaccine institute,

2. Founder of Microsoft is Highly Competitive

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs once shared an excellent bond to the extent that Bill Gates helped Steve Jobs in his hard times. But when Apple was getting successful, bill gates no more shared a good bond with Steve Jobs and also asked his family not to use any Apple products.

3. Bill Gates is a Greedy Reader

Bill Gates believes that reading is the only way to improve his understanding and also it helps him to learn new things. He believes that reading allows him to explore a new area or domain of knowledge. He prefers to read hard books rather than reading e-books. Bill Gates reads around 50 books per year, i.e. around one book per week. Since childhood, he has a habit of reading voraciously. Because of this his mother made a rule that no one will touch any book at the dining table.

4. Gates knows how to prioritize

We all know that a person’s success or failure depends on his/her habits and prioritization of time management. Bill Gates knows it very well. He makes sure that he manages his time meticulously to ensure essential commitments. He knows how and when to say no to something.

5. Bill Gates Does not abide by Rules

In 1975, he was arrested for driving without a valid driving license. Then in 1977, Bill gate was arrested in New Mexico for a traffic violation. In the initial years of Microsoft, he had so many speeding tickets that he had to hire the best traffic attorney in Washington to come out of trouble.

Spotting opportunities of Bill Gates

Bill Gates is very inspiring person. He created the single most influential technology the world has ever seen. It suits of our modern age, and it made him so wealthy that now he is up to reduce poverty and improve the education system.

In 1994, Gates and his wife Melinda found a charitable organization called Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which supports initiatives in global health and education. The aim of this foundation is to reduce poverty, disease and illiteracy in the world.

Bill Gates has received many numerous international and national accolades, and honorary doctorates from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden in 2002, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan in 2005, Harvard University in June 2007, and other universities.

Making millions through programming was not Bill Gates’s set goal; he was just following his heart, his passion. Programming was his obsession and it gave him happiness. Passion, concentration, and persistence is one way to describe Bill Gates.

Evaluating the environment

Bill Gates’s 1stCompany was a failure. He is one of the most innovative and practical leaders the world has ever seen. But his journey to success he faced many challenges. One of the challenges is that when Microsoft first opened Bill Gates became very successful, but when the MITS found out Bill Gates’s age people all over the world stopped buying them for a while which led to financial problems.

Gates credits his first business as being invaluable as a learning experience. He overcome all internal and external factors and became a founder of Microsoft. He is always being 1 step ahead of his competitors.

Venture Financing

When gates started his business he relied on his parents. Even though there are plenty of partnerships, the fact that Gates had wealthy parents to fall back on helped immensely as he built one of the most successful companies in the world. Gates’ parents watched his back until he became successful.

Success Factors of Bill Gates

Here are the keys to the success of bill Gates;

1. Get in early—and learn.

There are head starts to every success. Gates had a big one. In 1969, when he was in eighth grade—where there are very few schools had any kind of computer system-his school bought an early machine along with blocks of processing time. Gates was excused from regular math classes to learn to program and became enthralled with it.

2. Seek forgiveness, not permission

Too many people fail to succeed because they hold themselves back. Whether it was youthful folly or instinct, Gates didn’t fall into this category.

3. Value your work

Another big problem many people have is they are afraid to ask for money. Gates never faced that problem. At the age of 14, he was writing code for a local company’s payroll program. At the age of 17, he and Allen launched a company that used an early computer program that helps to count road traffic.

4. Learning matters more than school.

Gates was a good student-he scored almost perfectly on the SAT- and he was from a family that valued education. He enrolled at Harvard at the age of 17, but he spent time using Harvard’s computers rather than focusing on studies

5. When you’re in charge, take charge.

When Gates was running Microsoft, Gates had a reputation as a difficult, extremely competitive boss. Much like his contemporary Steve Jobs, descriptions of his reaction to employees he disagreed with in meetings were harsh.

Lessons learned

Here are a few lessons I have learned from Bill Gates

• Bill Gates is not distracted by his success. Success can easily cloud anyone’s judgment when it becomes a benchmark. But bill Gates looks beyond his success while executing business decisions. Gates is a leader who recognizes that his success should not bias business ethics.
• I found out that Bill gate is a caring person. He found Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations with his wife; to save lives and improve global health.
• Bill Gates is vision oriented. Microsoft was able to beat its competitors because of Gates’s vision. He always visions something bigger at every point. He was ahead of other competitors because he lacked no dream.

Conclusion

As Bill Gates is a man of few words with many ideas. He is one of the richest people in the world. He made our lives easier by making Microsoft. He is a person who values every minute. Overall, he is the best entrepreneur I have ever known,

References

1. (Rachel, 2015)
2. (Bellis, 2019)
3. (Harnish, 2016)
4. (Rampton, 2016)
5. (Murphy)

Bibliography

1. Bellis, M. (2019, July 24). Biography of Bill Gates.
2. F.Drucker, P. (1985).
3. Harnish, C. (2016, November 6). how Bill Gates is changing the world.
4. McClelland. (1976).
5. Murphy, B. (n.d.). what makes Bill Gates so successful?
6. Rampton, J. (2016, September 9 ). How Bill Gates became a Leadership Legend.
7. rasel. (2015). Entrepreneurship Definition by Various Authors.

Bill Gates Early Childhood

Bill Gates parents met in college while attending class for their future careers. His father was William H. and his mother Mary Maxwell. She was a student at the University of Washington along with her future husband. William was a law student and went on to earn a bachelors and the master’s degree. She was involved in a group that would better the climate and community of their school. Bill was raised in a competitive family with two other siblings. His older sister Kristianne Gates and his younger sister Libby Gates. Bill would organize family game nights and competitions between him and his siblings. Him and his family would also play board games and compete. Bill gates was close with his whole family but mostly his mother. She was first teaching and then quit to raise her children this made him and his mom closer. His mom volunteered her free time to charities and served on corporate boards. She would take Bill to the places that she volunteered at. They would spend a lot of time together making Bill cling to his mother the most.

Early Adulthood

Bill Gates was an intellectual young man as college boards saw this along with Lakeside school. This is where he attended high school. On his SAT test he scored a 1590 out of 1600. Achieving such a high score Bill Gates decided to attend college. In 1973 h .///e went to Hartford University. While he was good with computers, he first wanted to have a career in law just like his father. However within two years of attending college bill dropped out. The year is now 1975 and he wanted to pursue a business career. This is where him and his partner Paul Allen came up with Microsoft. They both shared a love for computers and became great friends. These two had been partners for a while. In 1970 they decided to start a business together. They made a computer program that monitor traffic patterns. This program was called Traf-o-Data. The two were only 15 yet, made $20,000 with this program. They wanted to start a new company hence Microsoft.

Inspiration

From a young age Bill Gates love to design things. From games to computer programs. When he met his friend Paul Allen who also had a love for computers and programming they wanted to make a business. The two of them were great partners and did very well together with their first business idea. Later on they decided to develop the company Microsoft.

Building Upon Success

Building upon the success of their first company, Gates and Alan increased their profit with the company Microsoft. They had brought in 2.5 million dollars with in the first four years of business. Over the course of the next few years Bill reworked some of the coding for the company to help fix any problems that were occurring. Over the next three years staff increased along with intake. They now had up to 128 people working at the company with an intake of $16 million in the year 1981. By 1983 Microsoft had been known globally with offices in Britain and Japan.

Some people may say that Bill Gates is one of the most philanthropic people out there. Billions of his dollars have be donated to these charities; ALS Association, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Children’s Vaccine Program, Children with AIDS, Comic Relief, Earth Institute, Estamos.

Introduction

Microsoft is world’s biggest software company worth $1.4 trillion, (Forbes 2020). The corporation was inaugurated on 4th April 1975 by former alumni from Harvard University, Bill Gates along with his companion, Paul Allen that have developed Windows, Microsoft Office, Office 365, Lync, Azure, X-box gaming and Lumina Smartphones, (Pialorsi 2016). The company sparked success in 1980, when a partnership was formed with International Business Machines Corporation resulting in Microsoft providing crucial operating systems. In 1990, Microsoft prospered with “the introduction of Windows 3.0., 60 million copies of Windows sold which effectively made Microsoft set high bars for PC software standard.” “Microsoft’s revenue was generated from sales to consumers and was first to reach a billion dollars in revenues.” (DSP 2020)

Background

The case study was created as part of the International Foundation Program and to assess the knowledge and understanding of the entrepreneurial leadership module.

Presentation of Findings

Gates was born on 28th October 1955 to his parents, William II and Mary Gates and has two sisters. His father was a well – respected lawyer while his mother was a schoolteacher at the University of Washington regent and served as a chairwoman of the United Way International Base, (Francis 2011). He is best known as co-founder of Microsoft, which was succeeded by Steve Ballmer then, Satya Nadella who is the current CEO since 2014. Gates’s net worth is $119.3 billion (Forbes 2020).

Late 1960’s, his school in Lakeside purchased ‘computer time on a machine’ owned by General Electric because computers were costly and over time, Gates and his colleagues developed an interest with the machines, and formed a group called the Lakeside Programmers Group. This idea encouraged them to generate profit and earned founders free computing time on machines owned by a Seattle company. Gates and Allen devised a company called Traf-O-Data in which they assembled a small computer that is utilized to make traffic counters based on the Intel 8008 processor and earned about $20,000. The company stood well in the business industry to an extent but over time, the company suffered losses for six years straight that totalled to $3,494, (Penguin 2011). “In December 1974, everything changed when his colleague, Paul Allen showed him a magazine article about the world’s first microcomputer, the Altair 8800, (Entrepreneur Media 2020).” This ignited the both of them to seize opportunity to contact the Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry System that was based in Albuquerque, New Mexico and told the president of their written version of a popular computer BASIC language for Altair but when in reality have not written anything. Allen and Gates worked tediously even though they did not have an Altair to work on, they tried simulating it onto other computers until finally, while trying to test the program, it worked. Shortly after, Microsoft was established and began writing software for computer start – ups like Apple and Commodore, (Entrepreneur Media 2020).

Early 1980’s, Gates encountered a major obstacle to Microsoft’s influence of operating systems for house – desk computers when a rival, ““VisiCorp” created a mouse-driven computer system with a user interface graphics rather than the keyboard-based and text-driven system of Microsoft Disk Operating System, (Sharif 2006).” Gates knew that competitor’s system would be a success because it was much convenient for people who were not familiarized with such complicated technological features. Though no system was in process as of yet, he had the urge to advertise at the Plaza Hotel announcing to the public in New York City that Microsoft’s new operating system would perform a graphical user interface feature, which was Windows.

However, his announcement was completely a ploy; the system announced was nowhere implemented. Though the marketing tactic did work its tricks because the public were anxious for the advent of a system that is designed suitably with their existing Microsoft products. They did not want to go through such a hassle and be encumbered with expenses of having to place an entirely different operating system. In addition, Window users did not have to go under the trouble of purchasing new software applications to replace the disk operating system – compatible programs they currently had. In 1985, Windows 1.0 was finally released and following that same year, the corporation accumulated a reported revenue of $140 million along with overseas users that generated $46.6 million (Microsoft 1985). Microsoft substantially grew despite challenges faced; one reason was that “he had financed majority of the company’s expansion completely from its earnings,” (Gates 1986). His way of approach did not inhibit him from leaping, as on January 1986, Gates launched a pioneering long – term project that creates a new data storage system that is based on a compact – disk that could contain any computer file like 3D files and music. Two months later, the company was deemed public and Microsoft shares of 40% influx his net worth to $390 million three months later. He was able to successfully lure and dominate the market system for almost all the PC’s and was able to develop other complex programs. In 1987, his stock from $21.50 per share escalated to $90.75, (Sharif 2006).

Conclusion

The case study discussed the foundation and how it substantially grew. It explores about the challenges he had faced and how he tackled it with the use of strategic tactics. It can also be deciphered that Bill Gates’s influence on technology and innovation is remarkable and how as a risk taker allowed him to go beyond his potential and thus, was able to successfully create a benchmark that is unsurpassable by many. His leadership style allowed him to be great at directing direction for his company and he had a vision about the world and his vision was “a computer on every desk and in every home” (Gates 1980). Overall, this foster individuals like myself to take a challenge and always learn from your mistakes. No matter how many times you fail, persistence and perseverance are the key.

Bill Gates is renowned as an American computer programmer and business magnate who co-founded the world’s largest personal computer software company Microsoft. Since the formation of his company in 1975. The business mogul has held more than a few high placed positions, including those of the CEO, chairman as well as chief software architect. The unprecedented success of Microsoft placed Gates in the realm of the rich and the powerful, and he has always been listed among the world’s wealthiest since 1987. For this write up, we are poised to X-ray the tycoon’s family background, business acumen, including details about his philanthropic efforts in conjunction with his wife Melinda Gates.

Tracing Bill Gate’s Origin (Early Life with parents and siblings)

Though known globally as Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft was named William Henry Gates III at birth. He was born in Seattle, Washington on the 28th of October 1955 to William H. Gates Sr. and his wife Mary Maxwell. His family is an upper-middle-class one with three children Bill, Kristianne his older sister and Libby his younger sister. Gates’ father was still a law student at college when he met Mary who was then an athletic student at the University of Washington, and was also neck-deep into leadership and student affairs.

Gates’ family life experience can be best described as very close and warm, where he was encouraged alongside his sisters to be competitive and always strive for excellence. The young Gates’ early signs of competitiveness come to the fore when he took charge of coordinating family games at their Puget Sound summer house. He also took pleasure in playing Monopoly and board games.

Gates relationship with his mother was quite close; Mary worked briefly as a teacher, but later decided to devote time to raising the kids and working with charities, and on civic affairs. Gates’ mum also spent her time serving on a few corporate boards like the First Interstate Bank located in Seattle (the bank owes its existence to her grandfather), International Business Machines or IBM and Unite Way. The young Gates would often tag along whenever his mum was doing volunteer work at community organizations and educational institutions.

Early Education and How he Developed Interest in Computer Programming

As a growing child, Bill Gates was quite rapacious with reading, with a better part of his time spent poring over several reference books like the encyclopedia. When he was 11 going on to 12, his parents began to express concern over their son’s behavior. Though he was excelling in his studies, he usually appeared withdrawn and bored most of the time, which were indications of becoming a loner, according to his mum and dad.

Despite the fact that Gates parents strongly believed in public education, they had to take the decision to enroll their son at the exclusive preparatory in Seattle called Lakeside School. He did well in almost all subjects, excelling in science, mathematics, English as well as drama.

It was during his days at Lakeside School that Gates interest in computers was ignited, when the school had an offer from a Seattle based computer company, which offered to provide the students with computer time. The Mother’s Club leveraged proceeds from the rummage sale for the school to procure a teletype terminal that students could use. Following that, the young Gates became engrossed with what a computer was capable of doing and thus, most of his leisure time was spent experimenting on the terminal. He was lead to write a tic-tac-toe program in BASIC computer language, which permitted users play against the device. After his graduation from Lakeside in 1973, he went on to achieve an intellectual feat in his college SAT test by scoring 1590 out of 1600.

Bill Gates did go to college, enrolling into Harvard in 1973 with the original intent of studying law. However, he had to drop out barely a couple of years later in 1975 to the dismay of his parents.

The Real Reason Bill Gates Dropped out of Harvard

Being obsessed with coding software and computers right from his high school days, Bill Gates already knew that he would play a key role as a pioneer of the PC (personal computer) evolution. From what was obvious, continuing to stay back at school was just delaying his dreams and aspirations.

He expressed the concern that the revolution (equipping every office, home, and even pocket with PCs) may happen without him. With the advent of the initial computer using a microprocessor, Gates and his friend Paul Allen said they needed to be the first that would get into that venture. According to the business mogul, that was exactly when he took the decision to drop out of school, which he promptly did. However, he made a promise to his parents that if his venture was to turn out as a failure, he would return to school to complete his degree. Though he never went back, Harvard gave him an honorary degree in 2007.

His Microsoft Venture and IBM Partnership

In collaboration with Paul Allen, Bill Gates went on to found Microsoft in 1975. Initially, the company name was written as a hyphenated compound word Micro-Soft, but was later changed to a blocked word Microsoft. At the onset, the duo adapted BASIC – a programming language on microcomputers. Following its success, they continued developing programming language software for a variety of systems.

By 1980, IBM (International Business Machine) approached them with a proposal to write the BASIC interpreter for their future personal computer, called the IBM PC. Microsoft was able to accomplish this, creating the PC DOS operating system and delivering it to IBM for a one-off fee of $50,000.

Before long, the operating system of Microsoft gained popularity which lead them to initiate an operating environment called Windows on the 20th of November 1985. Windows was launched for MS-DOS as its graphical operating system shell. As time rolled by, Windows began to dominate the global PC market gaining more than 90 percent market share. The company experienced unparalleled success financially and as the largest shareholder of Microsoft, Gates amassed an amazing fortune.

The introduction of Microsoft office was accomplished in 1989 – a package integrating numerous applications such as Microsoft Word as well as Excel into a single system, which was compatible with every product from Microsoft. The success they achieved with MS Office gave the company virtual monopoly on the operation of systems for personal computers.

With the unprecedented spread of the internet around the globe in the mid 1990s, the focus of Microsoft for the Internet was channeled to the development of enterprise and consumer software solutions. It was during this time that the Microsoft Network and the operating system platform for Windows CE were developed.

During the first month of 2000, Bill Gates relinquished his position as CEO of Microsoft, though his position as chairman was retained. He also created a new position for himself as Chief Software Architect. With time, he gradually handed over duties to other people at the company and went to focus on philanthropy. In February 2014, he finally stepped down from his position of chairman and has since diversified his interest in other fields.

Beyond Microsoft, Here Are His Other Ventures

Since he quit the daily operations at Microsoft, Bill Gates has been steadfast in the area of philanthropy and several other projects. According to reports from Bloomberg Billionaires Index, he was named the highest earning billionaire in the world in 2013 with a net worth that shot from US$15.8 billion all the way to US$78.5 billion. As at the first month of 2014, a majority of his assets were held at Cascade Investment LLC, which is an entity through which the billionaire owns stakes in several businesses. These holdings include the likes of Corbis Corp and Four Season Hotels and Resort. Gates is presently engaged as a technology advisor in support of chief executive officer Satya Nadella.

In 2017, it became known that a company owned by Bill Gates had invested the sum of 80 million dollars into the development project for a ‘smart city’ in the vicinity of Phoenix, Arizona. The proposed smart city called Belmont was poised to build a forward-thinking community, equipped with an infrastructure and communication spine that will embrace radical technology, designed around data centers, high-speed digital networks, autonomous logistics hubs and autonomous vehicles, distribution models and new manufacturing technologies,

Out of the 25,000 acres of land mapped out for the site, reports said that 470 acres was to be utilized for public schools, 3,800 acres channeled towards office, retail and commercial space, leaving room for residential units of 80,000.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Other Philathropical Gestures

The William H. Gates Foundation was established in1994 by Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates. The foundation was charged with the responsibility of drumming up support for world health, education, including investments in low-income communities globally. The organization is also dedicated to handling domestic issues like assisting students in the US to become college-ready.

With the influence of his wife, Gates got interested in following his mum’s footstep to become a civic leader, studying the philanthropic efforts of John D Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie who were industrial titans in the US. He came to the realization that he had an obligation to donate more of his fortune to charity.

By 2000, the duo pulled numerous family foundations together, making a $28 billion contribution towards the formation of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. During the succeeding years Gates was spending more and more time and interest in matters involving the foundation, which increased after he stepped down as the CEO of Microsoft. In 2015, the billionaire philanthropist spoke in support of National Common Core standards in grades K via 12 and charter schools. Also within this period, Bill Gates proved himself a groundbreaking employer by announcing through the foundation that all employees with the foundation would get one year’s paid leave following the birth of a child or even adoption.

The first of what would become the foundation’s yearly ‘Goalkeepers’ report was launched in 2017. In a nutshell, it is an evaluation of progress recorded in many vital areas connected to public health – this includes malnutrition, child mortality, and HIV. Then, the co-founder of Microsoft identified both chronic and infectious diseases as the two major public health concerns needed to be properly addressed within the up-coming decade.

An announcement came in April 2018 that the famed philanthropist was going to collaborate with Larry Page of Google in providing the sum of 12 million dollars to fund a universal flu vaccine. According to Gates, the fund was to be awarded in grants to the tune of two million dollars for ‘bold and innovative’ individual efforts with the aim to commence clinical trials in 2021. While many people were skeptical whether the funds would be sufficient enough to ignite any genuine medical breakthrough, others were quick to praise the purpose behind such investment. However, Bill Gates has already indicated that more was still expected.

We cannot conclude the talk on Gates’ philanthropic effort without mentioning his Alzheimer’s research. It was in November 2017 that he revealed the investment of $50 million of his personal resources into the Dementia Discovery Fund. According to the world famous philanthropist, he was going to follow up the initial investment with a second $50 million, which will be targeted at start-up schemes in Alzheimer’s research. This was believed to be a form of personal matter for the Microsoft boss who had witnessed the destructive effects of the illness on some of his family members.

According to his statement to CNN, any form of treatment at all would serve as a great advancement from the current situation, however, the long term aim has to be a cure.

We can say that one of his greatest efforts towards philanthropy is the ‘Gates-Buffet Giving Pledge’ which he signed in 2010 alongside fellow billionaire Warren Buffett, and Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook. The pledge is a commitment to donate half of their fortune (at least) over time to charity.

Is Bill Gates The Richest Man in the World Right Now?

Bill Gates’ name showed up on the 1987 billionaire list by Forbes, which was their first list ever, sporting the sum of $1.25 billion as his net worth. However, Jeff Bezos’ first appearance on The Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans was 11 years later in 1998 with $1.6 billion net worth precisely a year after his company Amazon went public.

Gates has an uninterrupted 24-year run as the world’s richest man till 2018 when the Amazon boss ended his tenor to become the first individual worldwide to earn $160 billion in net worth.

According to latest developments, Bezos has lost his exulted position as the richest man in the world, giving a leeway to Gates who grab the top spot following Amazon’s lackluster third quarter results leading Bezos to lose almost $7 billion in stock value.

Reports said that it was the first time that Gates has held that top spot in over a couple of years. Though the co-founder of MSFT briefly topped Jeff Bezos before then following the Amazon boss’ report that his three months profit ending in September fell close to 28% from the previous year. However, Bill Gates’ time as the top man was sadly short-lived then. Another factor that led to Bezos fall from the pinnacle of wealth was his divorce settlement in April, which saw him entitling his ex MacKenzie Bezos to his company stocks worth up to $36 billion. According to report, this was the biggest divorce settlement recorded in history.

Consequently, Bezos now sits at the 2nd position with $103.9 billion, while Bill Gates reclaims his long lost position as the richest man globally with $110 billion in net worth, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index said. Gates was aided by his company shares, that went up by almost 48%, boosting the value of his entire stake in Microsoft. We cannot fail to mention the latest drama to the Bezos/Gates wealth race in October, which saw Microsoft beating out Amazon in a cloud-computing contract worth the sum of $10 billion with the Pentagon.

So for now, Bill Gates is the richest man in the world, but the likes of Jeff Bezos are not relenting at all. Who knows what may likely happen in the next few years. We await the drama!

Family Life WIth his Wife and Children

It was in 1987 that Melinda French, a then 23-year-old product manager at Microsoft caught the eyes of Bill Gates who just clocked 32. It came to pass that the business mogul found a perfect partner in Melinda who was described as organized and very bright. The duo became an item and as time rolled by, their dalliance blossomed into enduring love as they came to discover an intimate as well as intellectual connection. Their mutual love culminated into matrimony when they exchanged marriage vows on the 1st of January in Hawaii.

After Gates mum died from the ravages of breast cancer a few months into their married life, the young couple decided to embark on a tour in 1995 in a bid to get their life into perspective. Their love was further cemented with the arrival of the first child of their family, an adorable daughter Jennifer Gates born in 1996. Jennifer soon became a sister to Rory, a boy who joined the family barely three years later in1999. Gates and Melinda had the last addition to their family in 2002 with the birth of Phoebe Gates a second daughter

A year after they became first time parents in 1997, the Gates family moved to the shore of Lake Washington where they bought a $54-million house of 55,000-square-foot. Though it still serves as a business center, the house is said to quite comfy for the family.

IIn my understanding, the shape of the perfect leader requires the ability on organize group of people and requires many different skills. According to Jonas (2019), skills enable you to be a role model for a team in any environment with great leadership qualities, successful leaders come in all shapes and sizes.

I think he or she with the shape of perfect leader cannot be exist. This is because perfect is an unachievable, unrealistic, and impractical ideal that leads people to project their fantasies onto real scenarios and people. This is the cause for disappointment, pain, anxiety on the part of the projector and a feeling of low self-worth, frustration, and being judged on the part of the projector. There is no perfect leader, which is why good leaders always try to improve themselves by self-study, training, education, guidance, making mistakes and then learning from them. Since there is no perfect leader, it is hard to build a good leadership model that is why there are hundreds of them. It has a few processes to become great leader is have a clear vision of what they want to achieve the leader will not let others people to stop them from realizing their vision, encourage the followers to jump into the experience means working through a lot of changes to achieve the vision, coach and empower the followers to get things done. The quote came from Vince Lombardi said, “Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile”. He was talking about the need to work hard for success.

Bill Gates can be the one of the examples that close to the quote. Bill Gates started working with computer at 13 years old, Bill with his friend formed the ‘Programmers Group’ in late 1968. Bill with his friend wrote a payroll program for Information Sciences in exchange for computer time and royalties. Bill Gates with his friend form a new company called Traf-O-Data at 17 years old. In 1973 Bill graduated from Lakeside School and he enrolled in Harvard University. In 1974 he joined his friend Paul Allen at Honeywell. In 1975 the MITS Altair 8800 based on Intel’s 8080 CPU was released then they saw this an opportunity to start their own software company and named their partnership Microsoft, a year later the hyphen was dropped, and on 26th of November 1976 the trade name Microsoft was registered. Microsoft launched its first retail version of Microsoft Windows on 20th November 1985 and deal with IBM develop a separate operating system called OS/2, they develop the new system is successful. Microsoft has been growing ever since, the software and hardware products have been expanding from Windows OS, Microsoft Office Suites, Office 365, Xbox, Bing, Hotmail, the list goes on. Since 1975 Microsoft has had a domination over the software market, Windows software is used in most companies.

Introduction

Bill Gates, an American businessman, philanthropist, and investor, is the subject of this essay, which is based on his life story. An in-depth look at the people, places, and things that happened during a specified period and in a specific setting is provided through case studies. An ’empirical inquiry’ has been described by Yin (2014). Along with his late boyhood buddy Paul Allen, he came to renown as a co-founder of Worldwide Microsoft. This case study demonstrates how Bill Gates got to where he is now and how he has impacted the world and what he has accomplished. In this article, he will demonstrate his business methods, triumphs, and failures, as well as the lessons gained and utilized to improve our chances of company survival.

Entrepreneur and Entrepreneurship

A researcher must first define the terminology and draw certain limits to give a theoretical foundation for anything. (Shane, 2010) The ideal way to begin an entrepreneurial case study is to have a firm grasp on what an entrepreneur is and what he or she does. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary provides a formal definition of an entrepreneur. As defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, an entrepreneur is ‘someone who develops a company or enterprise, runs it, and bears the risks of it.’ An entrepreneur, therefore, is just a person who owns a firm and takes on the associated risk. Entrepreneurs are more than just company owners who take on risk, notwithstanding the description provided above. At the heart of what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur is the ability to think outside of the box.

Entrepreneurs are those who see a business opportunity and seize it. Every resource they have is used to generate new resources. Constant and driven, entrepreneurs don’t let corporations tell them what they can and cannot achieve, or staff of workers dream for them; instead, they do it themselves with no help. It is up to the individual entrepreneur to pursue his or her own goals and objectives. Entrepreneurs can soar, but it’s also possible for them to crash heavily. ‘Soaring up there in the huge, wide, blue sky is my aim; dropping is only a possibility,’ says the enterprising spirit (Sellers, 2013). In the eyes of an entrepreneur, there are no barriers; only possibilities are seen

When it comes to entrepreneurship, Dollinger (2010) defines it as ‘the formation of an innovative economic organization (or network) for the aim of gain or growth in the face of risk and uncertainty.’ As Scarborough (2012) points out, entrepreneurship involves producing something new in an uncertain context and for profit. Various definitions of entrepreneurship emphasize the significance of making a profit (Scarborough 2012). Entrepreneurship, on the other hand, is defined by Barringer and Ireland (2008) as the pursuit and recognition of possibilities and the implementation of beneficial ideas. Entrepreneurship is driven by a clear sense of mission. Businesses are only necessary when they have a purpose. Because of this, it may be stated that entrepreneurs run enterprises that are termed businesses.

William Henry Gates (Bill Gates) as an Entrepreneur

On October 28, 1955, Mary and William Gates II gave birth to their son, Bill Gates. He has two older sisters. Father: prominent Seattle lawyer, University of Washington regent, United Way International chairwoman. Mother: schoolteacher, University of Washington regent, and United Way International chairwoman. His great-grandfather served as a state legislator and mayor, and his grandfather was a vice president of a major bank.

Bill is a firm believer in the value of hard effort. If you’re smart and know how to put your brain to work, he says, you can do anything. When he was in school, he excelled in math and science. His parents were well aware that he was becoming more restless at school. For this reason, Bill’s parents opted to enroll him in a prominent Lakeside preparatory school, which is recognized for its rigorous academic atmosphere. At school, Bill was introduced to computers and began working with them. Because of the work of his mother and other volunteers, a computer terminal given to the school and linked to the local computer firm was made possible. The Lakeside Programmers Group, which Bill co-founded with a few fellow students, spent nearly all of their free time writing programs for various purposes. Hacking into the security software and changing data on the system resulted in the group being suspended from the computer for a short period. ‘Many of the members of the collective now work for Microsoft as software developers. It wasn’t until 1974 that Bill went to Harvard, but dropped out to form Microsoft with Paul Allen. He had been a childhood friend of Bill’s. Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer collaborated on the Altair computer’s software when they were students at Harvard.

Allen, a close friend of Bill Gates, formed Tarf-O-Data, a new company. To monitor traffic flow, they created a portable computer. Around $20,000 was earned as a result of this undertaking. When Gates departed the university, the age of Traf-O-Data was over. He moved away from home to attend Harvard University in 1973 and hasn’t looked back since. He took all of the normal freshman courses, except for one of Harvard’s most difficult math classes. Even though he performed well, he didn’t like his time there. He stayed up late in front of the school’s computer numerous nights, and the following day he was dozing off in class again. After Bill’s first year at college, he almost lost interest in computers. As they discussed some of their ideas, Allen drew closer to him.

Gates left Harvard in 1975 to start Microsoft with his boyhood buddy Paul Allen, who had also attended the university at the time. Software development for the personal computer market was a goal for this duo. Microsoft’s operating systems and business deals made them a household name, and Bill Gates became a household name.

A new operating system was unveiled by Microsoft Corporation in New York City on November 10, 1983. It’s not simply Gates’s success that’s being slammed, but the fact that he seems to be trying to monopolize the market. In 1998, the US Department of Justice filed an antitrust case against Microsoft, claiming that the business had an unlawful stranglehold on the software market. ‘Smart, strategic decision-making’ is what led Microsoft to its triumph over competitors like Oracle and IBM,’ Gates said in an interview. US District Court Judge Thomas Jackson disagreed, and he concluded that Microsoft had monopoly power and used it to harm competitors in November 1999. Gates was forced to consider dissolving Microsoft as a result of the decision.

The day after Gates’ death, on January 13, 2000, he turned over control of Microsoft to his close friend and right-hand man Steve Ballmer and gave him the position of chief executive officer in addition to his previous one of the president. With his new title as Chief Software Architect, Gates retained his role as Chairman. Programming on the PDP-10 computer center corporation’s computer was Gate’s first encounter with computers. He also helped the Bonneville Power Administration to computerize electric power systems.

Gates created what is likely the first computer virus while working with the Computer Center’s PDP-10. A virus is software that replicates itself and corrupts data. It was discovered that the computer was connected to a nationwide network of computers known as Cybernet. When Gates infiltrated the network and installed a program on the primary computer, the program propagated to all of the other computers in the network, causing Cybernet to go down. As a result of the punishment he received after being caught, Gates was unable to utilize computers at Lakeside for his whole junior year. Altair computer BASIC interpreter written by Gates and his pal Allen. Since it was first developed in the 1960s as an ‘interpreter’ software that reads a source program one line at a time and performs actions quickly, BASIC has been widely used.

There were other pursuits that Bill Gates was passionate about, including medicine and the performing arts. It was founded by him in 1989 and he named it Corbis. A total of 800,000 digitized images are owned by Corbis. The photographs are licensed by newspapers and magazines, and they are published in print or Internet form by these organizations. Biotechnology is an additional area of interest for him due to the numerous breakthroughs made possible by this technology. He expects academics will be able to interact more quickly because of the internet. Dr. Bill Gates is dedicated to discovering the most effective treatments and vaccines. One of his most recent charitable donations was $1.5 million in 1998 to the International Aids Vaccine Scientific Roadmap initiative.

He was the world’s richest self-made individual at the end of 1988, with a net worth of $39 billion. At the end of 1997, Microsoft made $3.4 billion in profit. Software companies that traded on the stock market made up 41 percent of their profits in 2013. Windows 98 and 95 were both launched during this period, and both received a tremendous amount of attention from users throughout the globe.

Computers on every desk with Windows on them: that is the company’s mission statement. It’s clear that Bill has a big picture in mind and works tirelessly to realize that goal. Because of his conviction in intellect and hard effort, he has achieved success. Hard work and competition are what he believes in, not luck or divine intervention. For other software businesses, Bill’s Microsoft is a good competitor, and he will stomp out the competition until he dies. With his strong religious convictions, he has been able to enhance both his riches and the sector he dominates.

Today, Bill Gates can be described as one of the world’s most beloved grandpas. A feat that is remarkable when his magnanimous wealth and the general feeling of the global population towards wealthy men are considered. For a long time, especially in his younger years as the CEO of Microsoft, the world held the same animosity towards Bill Gates as it does the majority of its billionaires until recently when a combination of his charm, his philanthropy, and his disappearance from corporate business helped him build a reputation as an adorable and lovable man.

In his life, Bill has achieved enough to be regarded to be one of the most successful and brilliant people to ever live on the planet. The work of his company, Microsoft helped revolutionized technology, using the proceeds from his genius to build long-lasting wealth. There is so much to learn about Bill Gates, and you can learn a few of them by reading below.

Bill Gates – Biography

Perhaps he didn’t know how big at the time, but there was no doubt in the mind of William Henry Gates III when he and Paul Allen launched Microsoft that it would be a successful company. Today, the company is the leading name in computer operating systems all over the world.

Bill Gates was born on the 28th of October 1955 to the couple, William H. Gates Snr. and Mary Maxwell Gates. Although part of his mythos is the description that he built a billion-dollar company despite as a dropout, he was a mathematical genius who was born to financially comfortable parents. His father was a prominent lawyer while his mother was on the board of directors of a bank and a popular non-profit organization. Gates was born as the middle child in a family of three children, with two sisters named Kristianne and Libby.

Bill’s genius started to manifest at an early age, writing his first software program when he was a teenager at the age of 13 while he attended Lakeside School. Right at Lakeside School, Bill was already an expert on computer languages like FORTRAN, Lisp, and Machine Language. In his spare time, he worked for CCC and Information Sciences, Inc. where he wrote programs in COBOL. By the time Bill was graduating high school, he had several computer skills, a working experience that included working as a page in the U.S. House of Representatives, and his first computer venture, Traf-O-Data. At graduation, he held a distinguished award as a National Merit Scholar.

One of the uniqueness of Bill Gates as a young man was his decision to drop out of Harvard to build his company after spending two years in the prestigious school. Despite securing a seat in the famous university to study mathematics and computer science, he quit after two years and started his epic adventure with Paul Allen. Today, that adventure has grown to become one of the most valuable companies in the world.

Through the brilliance of Bill Gates, products like Windows, the most popular operating system, and Microsoft Office were launched in 1985 and 1990 respectively. As the chairman and CEO of Microsoft, a position he held from the company’s establishment to 2014, he was heavily involved in the product strategy of the company, during which his competitive nature helped him create a reputation as a difficult person.

After stepping down from his role as CEO in 2014, Bill Gates transitioned to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation where he, along with his wife has been driving some of the biggest improvements in modern life.

Bill Gates – Net Worth

Bill Gates, since 1987, has been on the list of the wealthiest people in the world compiled by the popular financial magazine, Forbes. He held the position of the richest man in the world from 1995 to 2017, losing his title only four times in the 22-year span. He is currently considered to be worth $95.4 billion, having lost his position as the richest man in the world to Jeff Bezos.

Bill Gates – Businesses

While he is most famous for Microsoft and its slew of products which include popular lineups like Xbox, and Microsoft Office, among others, Bill Gates has a list of other established companies through which he has pursued his other entrepreneurial interests. Some of them include TerraPower, Eclipse Aviation, Corbis, bgC3, ResearchGate, and Cascade Investments.

Bill Gates – Family

Ever since he relinquished his position as the head of Microsoft, his family life has risen in popularity in the media as part of his rebranding as the world’s most beloved grandpa. He has a wife, Melinda French whom he married in January 1994 and the couple have three children – Rory John, Phoebe Adele, and Jennifer Katharine. The family lives in a mansion believed to be worth $125 million in Washington, United States.

Bill Gates – Philanthropy

For wealthy men, philanthropy is a small gesture effort they use to massage their public image but for Bill Gates, it is a lifestyle he has embraced, both as a moral responsibility and as a scientific quest. Bill, whose mother served on one of the biggest nonprofit organizations in America and grew up spending many hours with renowned philanthropist, David Rockefeller has strong attachments to philanthropy. He has been able to pursue this passion through his foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which has been at the forefront of scientific research geared toward creating cheaper and more efficient ways of living. The foundation has given over $28 billion to charity and tackled several large-scale problems in developed and under-developed countries. Bill Gates and his wife have pledged as part of the Giving Pledge, to donate 95% of their wealth to charity at the time of their death.

The great Audrey Hepburn, who was herself no stranger to success, noted that as you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and the other for helping others. As applied to Bill Gates, both his hands were tightly grasping onto our hearts, our souls, and our conscience. Though the march of time may one day diminish his image, leaving his voice just an echo and his presence just a memory; I doubt any one of us will ever forget how Bill made us feel. And I’m not referring to how proud he made you feel with his immense success, or how important he made you feel in his presence. I’m referring to how he made our problems his, and with his two outstretched arms, gripped our sentiments for decades. Three days ago, when we received the news, time ceased to exist. Hearts broke, tears fell, and minds raced. The world inhaled, sharply. Today our world is drowning in more sorrow than ocean water. Today I miss him a little more than yesterday. Today I am reminded of my relationship with this incredible man which was ten years in the making. Every second shared was precious.

I met him minutes prior to my job interview in 2009; I was a timid unqualified personal assistant, attempting to get my foot in the door, and struggling. Nervously I moved into the crowded meeting room, and that’s when I spotted him. I of course quickly stumbled through the set of doors, and for the first time in my life, shook the hand of the world’s richest nerd; the man who gave us Microsoft and then wanted to give away 80 billion dollars to save the world. I was 20, I was enthralled and, I thought he was the greatest. Describing how much he meant to me is challenging, to say the least; you had to live in his time, in his world. It’s honorable to acknowledge his success through numbers and statistics, but to interact with his passion, and experience the genius of his kind, was absolutely incomparable. Every one of his projects was a masterpiece, a technological venture analogous to that of listening to Mozart, viewing Picasso, or reading Shakespeare. My friend Bill lived his life content with small means, seeking elegance rather than luxury; refinement rather than imperfection; to be worthy and respectable; and wealthy not rich. He never lost those traits, even as he lost everything else. He studied hard, thought quietly, spoke gently, acted frankly, and listened intently. But he was so much more than a nerd as time went on. Who was there to bridge the educational gap? Who provisioned to enhance global health? Who invested their fortune into our futures? He was the first of a few, as independent as the sun, one who fulfilled absolute decree in simplicity. Prior to the interview, he peered at me through those big glasses of his and said, ‘You’ve got this.’ Which is what he said to me every day until the last moment I spoke with him.

Bill was constantly, consistently, and continually himself: optimistic and passionate. He’d often use remarkable rhetoric about the life and plight of those in need, which resonated strongly with a selection of other philanthropists. My favorite memory perhaps was in 2010. He had just convinced the world’s second richest man, Warren Buffet, to pledge 30 billion dollars of his fortune to the only man in the world richer than him; Bill Gates. It’s one of my favorite moments; I sort of got lost in his words, in the purpose in his eyes, in the intentional silences; in him. ‘Warren, there are moments that cry out to be fulfilled in life. Like, breaking the rules, telling someone you love them, or giving your money away, all of it. Your heart is beating, isn’t it? You’re not in chains, are you?’

As he stretched society’s boundaries, Bill carried on, heart bleeding and fighting and dreaming for a world where life was golden and there was more quality, opportunity, and acceptance for those at a disadvantage. But Gates’ impact extended beyond the poverty-stricken and developing countries. Strictly speaking, programming is what he did. But he broadened that definition by viewing our responsibilities as his, accepting and leading battles on behalf of us, despite his personal beliefs and struggles. This world still needs him. It does. This world needs a leader motivated by the fairness and inclusion of all. Someone who will always work to bridge the social and economic divides. Someone who gives to those who have nothing to give to them.

Those are amongst the fondest of my memories with a man whom I deeply and sincerely admired. Now a decade later, I am still enthralled, and I am still convinced Bill Gates is the greatest of his time and ours. He was a beam of hope, shining with intensity in the middle of our darkest nights; illuminating the inequality, poverty, and potential of nations across the globe. This humble man excited us, confused us, and challenged us; but ultimately taught us that anything is possible. He may be gone, but his words will never die.

Modern influential leaders in the field of science and technology would arguably include Bill Gates, who founded the Microsoft organization, and Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple. Both have been extremely successful in their revolutionary innovation of technology yet it is interesting to compare their respective innovations, and also their management styles.

Bill Gates has earned his entrepreneurial status by building, to date, the most successful software business in the world. Born into a middle-class family, he achieved this by co-working with his business partner, Paul Allen. His passion for mathematics and equations arguably gave him the motivation to develop the successful Operating System OS, which took over Office Suites Products. Such is his success that he decided to concentrate on his charity foundation in 2014 with his partner, Melinda, stepping down from his role as Microsoft Chairman (Kunga 2020).

Whereas Bill Gates demonstrated success by adopting a more traditional, textbook management style, Steve Jobs achieved success with a different, more authoritarian approach., and an interest in studying people and learning what makes them tick. Colleagues have described him as a ‘high-maintenance co-worker’ who demanded excellence from his staff and was known for his blunt delivery of criticism.

Steve Jobs, had different academic achievements from Bill Gates. He was given up for adoption in 1955 and dropped out of college despite his potential for academic achievement. He started inventing at home in a garage, and together with his friend Steve Wozniak, co-founded Apple Computer in 1976 at just 21 years old. Their innovation began with the sale of a car and a scientific calculator which funded the cost of inventing smaller computers that were cheaper and attractive to their customers. They revolutionized the computer industry with smaller machines that were cheaper, smaller, and accessible to customers.

So in comparison, it could be argued that Jobs had to work harder than Gates to build his success from humble beginnings. Jobs was motivated by people and Gates by maths and economics. Jobs had an eye on the future and wanted to assist people by making their lives easier, he lost money in the beginning and had to overcome hurdles to achieve financial rewards. Gates on the other hand concentrated on the here and now, achieving massive profits to make him one of the wealthiest men in the world. Steve Jobs thought about long-term profits while Bill Gates had short-term profits in mind (Kunga 2020).

Comparing management styles, Gates, although more reserved than Jobs, was more open to considering ideas from his employees when creating new concepts for products. His style was autocratic. Jobs had an authoritative style, taking control over everything throughout the manufacturing process. This comparison demonstrates that success can be achieved from different managerial styles and that one size does not fit all in leadership and management, (Kotter 1990).