The Gates Family Profile

Bill Gates grew up in Seattle, where he attended the Lakeside School with Paul Allen, the schoolmate with whom he later founded Microsoft. At Lakeside, Gates realized his interest in software and began programming computers at 13. His father is name partner of K&L Gates, created by the combination of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham and Preston Gates & Ellis, and his late mother, Mary Gates, was a schoolteacher, University of Washington regent, and chairwoman of United Way International. He attended Harvard University, where he met Steven Ballmer, when they lived on the same hall. One of his achievements at Harvard included developing a version of BASIC for the MITS Altair, the first microcomputer.

In 1999, Gates wrote Business @ the Speed of Thought, which shows how computer technology can solve business problems in fundamentally new ways. Published in 25 languages and available in over 60 countries, various best-seller lists such as the New York Times, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, and Amazon.com included this book. In 1995, Gates also wrote the book, The Road Ahead. The Road Ahead stayed in the number 1 position on the NYT bestseller list for 7 weeks. The proceeds from both books go to non-profit organizations that support the use of technology in education and skills development.

Gates endowed $28.8 billion as of January 2005 with his wife, Melinda French Gates, to create a foundation to support global health and learning. The Foundation has also committed over $3.6 billion to organizations working in global health, and over $2 billion to improve learning opportunities including the Gates Library Initiative which brings computers, internet access, and training to the low income communities of the US and Canada. Community projects in the Pacific Northwest have received commitments of over $477 million, and over $488 million in special projects and annual giving campaigns. With Warren Buffet's historic gift of 85% of his wealth to the Gates Foundation, the Foundation's endowment has more resources than ever before. Because the dollar amount of the gift depends on the performance of Berkshire Hathaway stock, the exact value is unknown. As of June 26, 2006, the gift totaled some $37 billion.