October 18, 2005. Copyright 2005, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Bill Gates: WorldÕs richest man turns 50
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, October 18, Graphic News:  His name is synonymous with domination of the computer world and fabulous wealth, but these days Microsoft chief Bill Gates is getting as much attention for his efforts to help eradicate poverty and disease: the worldÕs richest man has turned worldÕs biggest charitable giver. Only time will tell whether these philanthropic pursuits alleviate some of the criticism levelled at Microsoft for its aggressive and anti-competitive practices.

Ever since he founded the computer giant in 1975, GatesÕ business tactics have won him at least as many enemies as friends. In August he won rare praise for forcing ÒSpam KingÓ Scott Richter to pay $7 million in a court battle against unsolicited emails, but more recently he was back in the news over a reported, controversial, rant at the Chinese for blocking MicrosoftÕs progress in that market.

By now GatesÕ unconventional career path to self-made billionaire is well known. Born in Seattle, Washington on October 28, 1955, to an attorney and a schoolteacher, he began computing as a teenager at high school, where he and a friend, Paul Allen, would regularly sneak into the University of Washington at night to use the machines there.

By the age of 17, Gates had sold his first programme -- a timetabling system for his school -- and earned himself $4,200. In 1975 he and Allen formed Microsoft to sell microcomputer software, and Gates soon dropped out of Harvard to focus his energy on their burgeoning business. The breakthrough came with a 1981 agreement with IBM for Microsoft to provide the operating system known as MS-Dos for IBM computers.

Gates, whose ÒsupergeekÓ image belies a razor-sharp business acumen, became a key player in the software industry by ensuring that Microsoft maintained the right to sell MS-Dos to other computer manufacturers, thus retaining the licensing laws and tightening his grip on the market. Such moves, combined with his insistence that software should not be copied without the publishersÕ permission, have made him a hate figure in an industry that had previously turned a blind eye to hackers and piracy.

Microsoft floated in 1986, raising $61 million. Despite the distraction of several court cases aimed at arresting its breakneck development, sales and profits continued to grow during the 1990s, and GatesÕ personal wealth passed the $100 billion mark in 1999. A year later he stood down as chief executive to focus on programming. He has also had to address his attention to MicrosoftÕs well-known vulnerability to viruses.

Although Microsoft remains at the top of the fast-paced computer industry, Gates is considered to be trailing arch-rival Steve Jobs in the consumer media sector, where Apple has blazed the trail with products such as iPod and iTunes -- a fact that, some say, points to his failure to fully appreciate the potential of the internet. Exactly how Gates will respond to these challenges remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, the Microsoft chief has broken new records with donations to charity, much of it through his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has an endowment of at least $27 billion. Gates began modestly enough by providing internet access for low-income communities across the United States, but he has expanded his charitable work to pour unprecedented amounts into combatting diseases such as TB and malaria globally. In June he shared the Live 8 platform with U2Õs Bono to focus world on the battle against global poverty.

Gates, who lives in Seattle with his wife Melinda and three young children, received an honorary British knighthood in March 2005 for his philanthropic work. With unmatched resources at his fingertips, he may yet change his image from supergeek to messiah.
/ENDS