Did He Get A Gold Watch?

By now everyone knows that Bill Gates has retired from active duty at Microsoft.

What will happen to Microsoft? Nothing… it will continue in its profitable ways well into the future.

Bill Gates – Timeline

1955: William Henry Gates is born in Seattle, Washington, on October 28 1955

1973: Enrols in Harvard to study computer science, but drops out during his third year

1975: Mr Gates founds Micro-Soft (later to become Microsoft) with his childhood friend Paul Allen on April 4 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

1975 – 2000: Gates serves as chief executive officer for Microsoft

1979: The firm moves from Albuquerque to Bellevue, Washington; it later moves to Redmond, WA, where it still has its headquarters

1998: Antitrust Court case United States vs Microsoft

1999: Bill Gates’ worth passes the $100bn mark

2000: Bill Gates and his wife Melinda found the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, an organisation focused on tackling global health and education problems

2000-2006: In 2000 Mr Gates assumes the title of chief software architect and stays on as company chairman; Steve Ballmer takes over as chief executive

2004: The European Commission fines Microsoft 497m euros (£339m, $627m) and forces it to offer a version of its Windows operating system without Microsoft’s own media player

2006: Anti-competition hearing in which Microsoft appeals against the EU’s 2004 ruling

2006: In June Mr Gates announces he will cease handling day-to-day operations by July 2008, although he will remain chairman of the firm. He says he will focus on running his and his wife’s foundation.

According to Yahoo – Microsoft stock (MSFT) closed at $27.63 on June 27, 2008. Bill Gates owns 813,130,446 shares – which puts his value in Microsoft at over $22 billion dollars – while his best bud
Steve Ballmer has about half as many shares which puts his value in Microsoft at just over $11 billion dollars. To put things into comparison, Bill Gates sits between the countries of Sri Lanka and Lebanon in terms of GDP.

What’s up next for Bill? Focus on charity work through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, the foundation is led by CEO Patty Stonesifer and co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of trustees Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

You can read more about the foundation by visiting the site http://www.gatesfoundation.org and if you’d like a quick facts sheet visit http://www.gatesfoundation.org/MediaCenter/FactSheet/.

Enjoy!

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Did He Get A Gold Watch?

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