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Bill Gates Essay | Essay on Bill Gates for Students and Children in English

February 12, 2024 by sastry

Bill Gates Essay: Everyone wants to be in the shoes of the richest man in the world, whose wealth at one point of time was more than $100 billion!

He has been characterised as the quintessential example of a super-intelligent human being with immense power and wealth. Every minute, every second when you are on your PC, he guides you. Almost Every computer in the world comes with his software pre-installed! With this hint, surely, you can gauge the fact that we are talking about Microsoft and the brain behind it—Bill Gates. – The Billionaire with a ‘Big’ Heart

You can read more  Essay Writing  about articles, events, people, sports, technology many more.

Long and Short Essays on Bill Gates for Kids and Students in English

Given below are two essays in English for students and children about the topic of ‘Bill Gates’ in both long and short form. The first essay is a long essay on the Bill Gates of 400-500 words. This long essay about Bill Gates is suitable for students of class 7, 8, 9 and 10, and also for competitive exam aspirants. The second essay is a short essay on Bill Gates of 150-200 words. These are suitable for students and children in class 6 and below.

Long Essay on Bill Gates 500 Words in English

Below we have given a long essay on Bill Gates of 500 words is helpful for classes 7, 8, 9 and 10 and Competitive Exam Aspirants. This long essay on the topic is suitable for students of class 7 to class 10, and also for competitive exam aspirants.

“It’s fine to celebrate success, but it’s more important to heed the lessons of failure.”

His was not a ‘rags-to-riches’ story, but a ‘riches-to-riches’ one. The noteworthy thing is that his parents’ wealth didn’t make him complacent.

The American entrepreneur, philanthropist and the Chairman of Microsoft, was born on 28th October, 1955 into a wealthy Seattle family. His father was a prominent attorney and mother, a bank board member. A story goes that, at his birth, his father set-up a million-dollar fund for him. But, Gates denied it. But one thing that is for sure, is that he had the best of education, including 3 years at Harvard.

As a student, Gates excelled in elementary school, particularly in Mathematics and Sciences. At 13, he was enrolled in the Lakeside School, Seattle’s most exclusive preparatory school. When he was in the eighth grade, the school mothers used proceeds’ from Lakeside’s rummage sale to buy an ASR-33 teletype terminal and a block of computer time in a General Electric Computer. Gates took an interest in programming the GE system in BASIC and was excused from Maths classes to pursue his interest. After the Mothers’ Club donation was exhausted, he and other students sought time on other systems, including DEC PDP minicomputer. One of these systems was a PDP-10 belonging to Computer Centre Corporation, which banned the Lakeside students for the summer after it caught them exploiting bugs in the operating system to obtain free computer time.

At the end of the ban, the Lakeside students offered to find bugs in CCC’s software in Exchange for free computer time. Gates went to CCC’s offices and studied source code for various programmes that ran on the system, not only in BASIC but FORTRAN, LISP and machine language as well. The arrangement with CCC continued until 1 970, then it went out of business. The following year, Information Sciences Inc. hired the Lakeside students to write a payroll program in COBOL, providing them not only computer time but royalties as well. At the age of 14, Gates was dexterous enough to form a venture with Allen, called Traf-O-Data, to make traffic counters based on Intel 8.008 processor. That first year, he made $ 20,000, however, when his age was found out, business slowed down.

Since beginning, Bill Gates was on the lookout for opportunities. So, after reading the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics that demonstrated the Altair 8,800, Gates contacted MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems), the creators of the new microcomputer. He informed them that he and others were working on a

BASIC interpreter for the platform. MITS President, Ed Roberts, agreed to meet them for a demo and when Gates demonstrated his work, it was a success.

Paul Allen, Gates’ intimate friend was hired into MITS, and Gates took a leave of absence from Harvard to work with Allen at MITS, dubbing their partnership ‘Micro-Soft’ in November, 1975. Within a year, the hyphen was dropped and on 26th November, 1976, the trade name “Microsoft” was registered. Microsoft became 1 independent of MITS in late 1976, and it continued to develop programming language software for various systems.

Short Essay on Bill Gates 200 Words in English

Below we have given a short essay on Bill Gates is for Classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. This short essay on the topic is suitable for students of class 6 and below.

In 1980, IBM approached Microsoft to make the BASIC interpreter for its upcoming personal computer, IBM PC. Gates proposed using 86-DOS (QDOS), an operating system. After adapting the operating system for PC, Microsoft delivered it to IBM as PC-DOS. As several companies reverse-engineered the IBM architecture and developed clones, Microsoft was quick to license DOS to other manufacturers, calling it MS-DOS. Keeping pace with time, in the early 1980s, Microsoft released ‘Windows’ as an addition and alternative to their DOS command line, and to compete with other systems in the market. By the early 1 990s, Windows had pushed other DOS-based systems out of the market. The release of Windows 3.0 in 1990 was a tremendous success, selling around 10 million copies in the first two years and cementing Microsoft’s dominance in operating systems’ sales. It gradually became the largest software company in the world.

A portion of Gates popularity can be attributed to his wife Melinda. It is due to her philanthropic mindset, that Gates came out to participate in the ‘real’ world. It was their combined effort that made Warren Buffett channelise much of his fortune to their social welfare institute, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. At the time of its inception, Gates ‘gifted’ $106 million. It provides scholarships to needy, and efforts are directed for the control of AIDS, polio, diphtheria, measles and yellow fever. It gives away at least 5% of its assets each year, in order to continue as a charitable organisation.

Gates has been continuing to drive the world with his genius. ‘Forbes’ magazine’s list of the ‘The World’s Billionaires’ has ranked him as the richest person in the world l since 1 995, and recent estimates put his net worth near $ 56 billion. But the Gates Foundation and his social work will make us remember him for more than just his business empire. He will inspire us to steadily move towards our higher goals, for he rightly said :

“If you are born poor, it’s not your mistake. But if you die poor, it’s your mistake.”

Bill Gates Essay Word Meanings for Simple Understanding

• Quintessential – of or pertaining to the most perfect embodiment of something
• Gauge – to appraise, estimate or judge
• Complacent – pleased, especially with oneself or one’s merits, disadvantages, situation, etc., often without awareness of some potential danger or defect, self-satisfied
• Philanthropist – a person who practices philanthropy
• Exclusive – fashionable, stylish, expensive
• Royalties – payments received by an owner of real property for allowing someone to use it.
• Rummage – miscellaneous articles
• Dexterous – having mental skill or adroitness, clever
• Telemetry – the wireless transmission and reception of measured quantities for the purpose of
• Remotely monitoring environmental conditions or equipment parameters
• Inception – beginning, start, commencement
• Seadily – regularly, continuously
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Essay on Bill Gates

Students are often asked to write an essay on Bill Gates in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Bill Gates

Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington. He developed an interest in computer programming at a young age.

In 1975, Gates co-founded Microsoft with Paul Allen. They developed software for personal computers, transforming the tech industry.

Philanthropy

After retiring from Microsoft, Gates focused on philanthropy. He and his wife, Melinda, established the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which works on global issues.

Gates’ impact on technology and philanthropy is significant. His work continues to inspire many around the world.

250 Words Essay on Bill Gates

Early life and education, microsoft: the technology giant.

In 1975, Gates and Paul Allen co-founded Microsoft, aiming to develop and sell BASIC interpreters. Gates’ vision of “a computer on every desk and in every home” was pioneering at a time when computers were bulky and expensive. Under his leadership, Microsoft introduced Windows, which became the dominant OS worldwide, solidifying Gates’ position as a titan of the tech industry.

Philanthropy: A Life Beyond Microsoft

In 2000, Gates stepped down as Microsoft CEO to focus on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the world’s wealthiest charitable foundations. The foundation’s work in healthcare, education, and poverty alleviation has had global impacts, demonstrating Gates’ commitment to using his wealth for societal good.

Legacy and Influence

Gates’ influence extends beyond technology and philanthropy. He is a thought leader, advising on issues like climate change and public health. His book, “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster,” provides insightful solutions to one of the most pressing problems of our time.

In conclusion, Bill Gates’ journey from a computer enthusiast to a globally influential figure is a testament to his vision, leadership, and philanthropic spirit. His life offers invaluable lessons about innovation, resilience, and the power of technology to transform societies.

500 Words Essay on Bill Gates

Introduction.

Bill Gates, born William Henry Gates III, is a name that resonates profoundly within the realm of technology, philanthropy, and global health. As the co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, he revolutionized the world of personal computing, creating a legacy that continues to influence the technological landscape.

The Birth of Microsoft

In 1975, Gates and Allen established Microsoft, a blend of “microcomputer” and “software.” Their first significant breakthrough came with the development of the MS-DOS operating system for IBM in 1981. This marked the beginning of Microsoft’s dominance in the personal computer operating system market.

Leadership and Innovation at Microsoft

As CEO, Gates led Microsoft through a series of innovations, including the launch of Windows in 1985, a graphical operating system shell that became a household name. Gates’ leadership style was characterized by his relentless pursuit of new ideas and his ability to inspire his team to turn visions into reality.

Philanthropic Endeavors

Global health advocacy.

Gates has been a vocal advocate for global health, investing billions in research and treatment for diseases like malaria and HIV. His foundation’s efforts have significantly contributed to the eradication of polio. Recently, Gates has been at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19, funding research, and vaccine distribution.

Gates’ influence extends beyond Microsoft and his philanthropic endeavors. His thoughts on technology, global health, and climate change shape public discourse and policy. His book, “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster,” offers practical solutions to the climate crisis, demonstrating his commitment to a sustainable future.

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Essay On Bill Gates: The Founder of Microsoft

• Updated on  
• May 14, 2024

Today, we are all connected to technology in one way or another. But did you know how technology has evolved in the past few years? A young boy from Seattle, Washington, aged 13, wrote his first software program, which later gave birth to one of the most advanced computer programmes and software. Bill Gates was the co-founder and CEO of Microsoft Corporation, the world’s largest private computer software company. Today he is listed as the Forbes Richest Man in the World. Let’s learn more about this great man through an essay on Bill Gates.

Table of Contents

• 1 Essay On Bill Gates in 400 Words
• 2 Paragraph on Bill Gates
• 3 Quotes By Bill Gates
• 4 Books By Bill Gates

Essay On Bill Gates in 400 Words

Willian Henry Gates III, more commonly known as Bill Gates, is the CEO of Microsoft and is not only a co-founder of the well-known software company but also a noted author and philanthropist. He was born in 1955 in Seattle, Washington, United States. Gates was a brilliant student who enjoyed maths and reading from a young age. 

Aside from being a bright child, he has a strong interest in computers, which his parents have encouraged and supported. He attended Harvard College as a law student in 1973 but dropped out after two years to start his own software company. He later co-founded Microsoft with his childhood friend Paul Allen in 1975. Microsoft envisioned “a computer in every desktop and every home.”

After years of hard work, this idea has become a reality. Following Microsoft’s success, he started and invested in several firms, including TerraPower, Gates Venture, BEN, Cascade Investment, and Breakthrough Energy. During the late 1990s, he was criticized for his uncompetitive business practices. Gates held various positions at Microsoft, including chairman and chief software architect. In 2000, Bill Gates and his then-wife Melinda founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest private charity foundation. 

In 2008, he changed his role at Microsoft to part-time, with a full-time focus on the Gates Foundation. He then stepped down as CEO of Microsoft in 2014 to support Satya Nadella, the newly appointed CEO. In 2020, he left his board position at Microsoft to focus on his philanthropic activities for global welfare, including climate change, global development, and education. He has made huge contributions to various charitable organizations and scientific research projects over the years. Since 1987, he has been on Forbes’ list of the world’s billionaires. According to a Forbes study in 2024, his net worth is $128.7 billion. He also wrote many books, including The Road Ahead and How to Avoid a Climate Disaster.

He has committed his life to building the world’s top software company, contributing a large portion of his income to social activities. This shows that, along with his financial wealth, Bill Gates has a great heart too.

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Quotes By Bill Gates

Here are some of the popular quotes by the co-founder of Microsoft Corporation.

• “Money has no utility to me beyond a certain point. Its utility is entirely in building an organisation and getting the resources out to the poorest in the world.”
• “We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.”
• “Don’t compare yourself with anyone in this world … if you do so, you are insulting yourself.”
• “It’s fine to celebrate success, but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.”
• “The belief that the world is getting worse, that we can’t solve extreme poverty and disease, isn’t just mistaken. It’s harmful.”
• “Patience is a key element of success.”
• “Everyone needs a coach. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a basketball player, a tennis player, a gymnast, or a bridge player.”

Books By Bill Gates

• How To Avoid A Climate Disaster- 2021
• The Road Ahead-1995
• Business@The Speed of Thought- 1999
• How To Prevent the Next Pandemic- 2022
• Unleashing the Power of Creativity- 2006

Ans: Bill Gates is the CEO of Microsoft and a noted author and philanthropist. He was born in 1955 in Seattle, Washington, United States. Gates was a brilliant student who enjoyed maths and reading from a young age.  Aside from being a bright child, he has a strong interest in computers, which his parents have encouraged and supported. He attended Harvard College as a law student in 1973 but dropped out after two years to start his own software company. He is listed among the Richest Men in the world.

Ans: Bill Gates is famous for co-founding Microsoft with his childhood friend Paul Allen in 1975. He also founded the ‘Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’, the world’s largest private charity foundation, with his then-wife, Melinda Gates.

Ans: According to Forbes, Bill Gates’ net worth is $128.7 billion, making him the eighth richest person in the world.

Ans: Bill Gates was admitted to Harvard College as a law student in 1973 but dropped out after two years to start his own software company, Microsoft.

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Bill Gates’ Biography, Essay Example

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In the information technology industry, Bill Gates, whose full name is Henry Gates III, has many achievements. He is an entrepreneur and American computer programmer who co-founded the largest personal-computer software company globally known as Microsoft Corporation. An understanding of Bill’s professional progress is a positive indicator of information technology industry stakeholders like learners. One major tool to fully understand the advances made by Bill is his biography. One can closely follow his entry into the information technology industry, goals and objectives met, and plan in his businesses.

In October 1955, William Henry Gates III’s (Bill) birth took place in Seattle, Washington (Bill). His family was upper-middle-class, and he was the second of three children. Bill loved to read, playing games, and was competitive. Initially, he schooled in a public school but later was sent to Lakeside School, which is of private status. He excelled in English, drama, science, and math. At the age of 13, Bill displayed his interest in programming using computers at the Lakeside School (Bill). Later, he pursued this passion through college. Coming up with some ideas together with those of his business partner and friend Paul Allen, Bill came up with Microsoft. Through aggressive business tactics and technological innovation, they built the largest software company in the globe.

What made Bill famous was his founding of Microsoft. Initially, aged 15 years in 1970, Paul and Bill went into business (Bill). They developed a computer program that was monitoring traffic patterns within Seattle, Washington. Out of this deal, they netted $20,000. Afterwards, they wanted to start a company, but Bill’s parents wanted him to complete school first since they hoped he would become a lawyer (Bill). However, Bill remained in contact with his friend and business partner, Paul. In 1974, Bill joined Paul Allen in Boston, Massachusetts (Bill). Paul had dropped out of Washington State University, where he had only studied for two years. Both friends started working at a company known as Honeywell. Allen was able to show Bill an edition entailing a popular electronics magazine about an article featuring Altair 8800 mini-computer kit.

The Altair was a product of a small New Mexico company known as Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS). Paul and Bill contacted this company claiming to provide software that could run the Altair computer. They were asked for a demonstration by the company president; however, they never had an Altair to work with and any coding skills. Instead, they took two months into writing the required software at the Harvard computer lab. Paul tested the software, and it worked. He was later hired by MITS. Bill left Harvard and joined Paul to work on their new software program. Later, in 1975, Bill and Paul came into a business partnership and named it Micro-Soft.

Three years later, MITS was sold to another company. Paul and Bill had to claim their software production rights. Microsoft was able to write different format software for other computer companies. In the same year, 1978, Microsoft operations were moved by Bill to east Seattle, Bellevue Washington. His number of employees was 25 and placed himself on the Microsoft head (O’Regan 218). At the age of only 23 years in 1978, Bill earned $2.5 million (219). In November 1980, IBM signed a contract with Microsoft about software supply in operating their personal computers. Between the years, 1978 and 1981, an increase in staff numbers and general growth was recorded in the Microsoft Company. The new staff members’ number was 128 from the previous 25 (220). An increase in revenue was found to be $16 million from $4 million. In the middle of 1981, Microsoft was incorporated. Bill got appointed the chairman of the board and president. His business partner was appointed the executive company’s vice-president.

Microsoft was able to go global in the year 1983, expanded its offices internationally in Japan and Britain. Averagely, 30% of the global computers were being operated using its software. In 1985, the stiff competition was within the information technology industry. Two years early, the Macintosh system (Apple Computer Corporation) had introduced a visual windows system. For Microsoft to remain relevant, Bill was able to launch Microsoft Windows in November 1985 (Adam 48). It was similar to the product of its competitor launched two years earlier. Upon increased business growth, in the year 1986, Microsoft was taken public having an initial public offering of $21 in each share (Adam 50). Bill, at this time, had held 45% of the Microsoft shares. He became an instant millionaire while aged 31 years old, having a net worth of $234 million (Adam 51). Generally, Microsoft was valued at $520 million shares.

One year later, in 1987, the company had a stock increase in value, enabling Bill to become an instant billionaire. Microsoft shares were selling at $90.75 a share. In the year 1999, the Microsoft stock prices recorded the highest value, enabling Bill to have his wealth valued at $101 billion (Bill). Since then, Bill has been one of the top information technology industry moguls and entrepreneurs. Currently, he remains as the Microsoft technical adviser who helps the company CEO, Satya Nadella, and other senior leaders on software issues (Bill). Other advisory areas include artificial intelligence and health-care technology. Bill has dedicated much of his time to charity work among other activities in the Bill &  Melinda Gates  Foundation.

Works Cited

Adam, Muhammad. “What’s in a Bill Gates.”  Prologue  4.1 (2018): 46-78.

Bill, Gates. “Bill Gates Biography.” (2019).

O’Regan, Gerard. “Personal and Home Computers.”  The Innovation in Computing Companion . Springer, Cham, 2018. 217-220.

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Bill Gates: Here's My Plan to Improve Our World -- And How You Can Help

But like anyone with a mild obsession, I think mine is entirely justified. Two out of every five people on Earth today owe their lives to the higher crop outputs that fertilizer has made possible. It helped fuel the Green Revolution, an explosion of agricultural productivity that lifted hundreds of millions of people around the world out of poverty.

These days I get to spend a lot of time trying to advance innovation that improves people's lives in the same way that fertilizer did. Let me reiterate this: A full 40 percent of Earth's population is alive today because, in 1909, a German chemist named Fritz Haber figured out how to make synthetic ammonia. Another example: Polio cases are down more than 99 percent in the past 25 years, not because the disease is going away on its own but because Albert Sabin and Jonas Salk invented polio vaccines and the world rolled out a massive effort to deliver them.

Thanks to inventions like these, life has steadily gotten better. It can be easy to conclude otherwise—as I write this essay, more than 100,000 people have died in a civil war in Syria, and big problems like climate change are bearing down on us with no simple solution in sight. But if you take the long view, by almost any measure of progress we are living in history's greatest era. Wars are becoming less frequent. Life expectancy has more than doubled in the past century. More children than ever are going to primary school. The world is better than it has ever been.

But it is still not as good as we wish. If we want to accelerate progress, we need to actively pursue the same kind of breakthroughs achieved by Haber, Sabin, and Salk. It's a simple fact: Innovation makes the world better—and more innovation equals faster progress. That belief drives the work my wife, Melinda, and I are doing through our foundation.

We went on a Safari to see wild animals but ended up getting our first sustained look at extreme poverty. We were shocked.

Of course, not all innovation is the same. We want to give our wealth back to society in a way that has the most impact, and so we look for opportunities to invest for the largest returns. That means tackling the world's biggest problems and funding the most likely solutions. That's an even greater challenge than it sounds. I don't have a magic formula for prioritizing the world's problems. You could make a good case for poverty, disease, hunger, war, poor education, bad governance, political instability, weak trade, or mistreatment of women. Melinda and I have focused on poverty and disease globally, and on education in the US. We picked those issues by starting with an idea we learned from our parents: Everyone's life has equal value. If you begin with that premise, you quickly see where the world acts as though some lives aren't worth as much as others. That's where you can make the greatest difference, where every dollar you spend is liable to have the greatest impact.

I have known since my early thirties that I was going to give my wealth back to society. The success of Microsoft provided me with an enormous fortune, and I felt responsible for using it in a thoughtful way. I had read a lot about how governments underinvest in basic scientific research. I thought, that's a big mistake. If we don't give scientists the room to deepen our fundamental understanding of the world, we won't provide a basis for the next generation of innovations. I figured, therefore, that I could help the most by creating an institute where the best minds would come to do research.

There's no single lightbulb moment when I changed my mind about that, but I tend to trace it back to a trip Melinda and I took to Africa in 1993. We went on a safari to see wild animals but ended up getting our first sustained look at extreme poverty. I remember peering out a car window at a long line of women walking down the road with big jerricans of water on their heads. How far away do these women live? we wondered. Who's watching their children while they're away?

That was the beginning of our education in the problems of the world's poorest people. In 1996 my father sent us a New York Times article about the million children who were dying every year from rotavirus, a disease that doesn't kill kids in rich countries. A friend gave me a copy of a World Development Report from the World Bank that spelled out in detail the problems with childhood diseases.

Melinda and I were shocked that more wasn't being done. Although rich-world governments were quietly giving aid, few foundations were doing much. Corporations weren't working on vaccines or drugs for diseases that affected primarily the poor. Newspapers didn't write a lot about these children's deaths.

This realization led me to rethink some of my assumptions about how the world improves. I am a devout fan of capitalism. It is the best system ever devised for making self-interest serve the wider interest. This system is responsible for many of the great advances that have improved the lives of billions—from airplanes to air-conditioning to computers.

But capitalism alone can't address the needs of the very poor. This means market-driven innovation can actually widen the gap between rich and poor. I saw firsthand just how wide that gap was when I visited a slum in Durban, South Africa, in 2009. Seeing the open-pit latrine there was a humbling reminder of just how much I take modern plumbing for granted. Meanwhile, 2.5 billion people worldwide don't have access to proper sanitation, a problem that contributes to the deaths of 1.5 million children a year.

Governments don't do enough to drive innovation either. Although aid from the rich world saves a lot of lives, governments habitually underinvest in research and development, especially for the poor. For one thing, they're averse to risk, given the eagerness of political opponents to exploit failures, so they have a hard time giving money to a bunch of innovators with the knowledge that many of them will fail.

By the late 1990s, I had dropped the idea of starting an institute for basic research. Instead I began seeking out other areas where business and government underinvest. Together Melinda and I found a few areas that cried out for philanthropy—in particular for what I have called catalytic philanthropy.

I have been sharing my idea of catalytic philanthropy for a while now. It works a lot like the private markets: You invest for big returns. But there's a big difference. In philanthropy, the investor doesn't need to get any of the benefit. We take a double-pronged approach: (1) Narrow the gap so that advances for the rich world reach the poor world faster, and (2) turn more of the world's IQ toward devising solutions to problems that only people in the poor world face. Of course, this comes with its own challenges. You're working in a global economy worth tens of trillions of dollars, so any philanthropic effort is relatively small. If you want to have a big impact, you need a leverage point—a way to put in a dollar of funding or an hour of effort and benefit society by a hundred or a thousand times as much.

One way you can find that leverage point is to look for a problem that markets and governments aren't paying much attention to. That's what Melinda and I did when we saw how little notice global health got in the mid-1990s. Children were dying of measles for lack of a vaccine that cost less than 25 cents, which meant there was a big opportunity to save a lot of lives relatively cheaply. The same was true of malaria. When we made our first big grant for malaria research, it nearly doubled the amount of money spent on the disease worldwide—not because our grant was so big, but because malaria research was so underfunded.

But you don't necessarily need to find a problem that's been missed. You can also discover a strategy that has been overlooked. Take our foundation's work in education. Government spends huge sums on schools. The state of California alone budgets roughly $68 billion annually for K-12, more than 100 times what our foundation spends in the entire United States. How could we have an impact on an area where the government spends so much?

We looked for a new approach. To me one of the great tragedies of our education system is that teachers get so little help identifying and learning from those who are most effective. As we talked with instructors about what they needed, it became clear that a smart application of technology could make a big difference. Teachers should be able to watch videos of the best educators in action. And if they want, they should be able to record themselves in the classroom and then review the video with a coach. This was an approach that others had missed. So now we're working with teachers and several school districts around the country to set up systems that give teachers the feedback and support they deserve.

The goal in much of what we do is to provide seed funding for various ideas. Some will fail. We fill a function that government cannot—making a lot of risky bets with the expectation that at least a few of them will succeed. At that point, governments and other backers can help scale up the successful ones, a much more comfortable role for them.

We work to draw in not just governments but also businesses, because that's where most innovation comes from. I've heard some people describe the economy of the future as "post-corporatist and post-capitalist"—one in which large corporations crumble and all innovation happens from the bottom up. What nonsense. People who say things like that never have a convincing explanation for who will make drugs or low-cost carbon-free energy. Catalytic philanthropy doesn't replace businesses. It helps more of their innovations benefit the poor.

Look at what happened to agriculture in the 20th century. For decades, scientists worked to develop hardier crops. But those advances mostly benefited the rich world, leaving the poor behind. Then in the middle of the century, the Rockefeller and Ford foundations stepped in. They funded Norman Borlaug's research on new strains of high-yielding wheat, which sparked the Green Revolution. (As Borlaug said, fertilizer was the fuel that powered the forward thrust of the Green Revolution, but these new crops were the catalysts that sparked it.) No private company had any interest in funding Borlaug. There was no profit in it. But today all the people who have escaped poverty represent a huge market opportunity—and now companies are flocking to serve them.

Or take a more recent example: the advent of Big Data. It's indisputable that the availability of massive amounts of information will revolutionize US health care, manufac­turing, retail, and more. But it can also benefit the poorest 2 billion. Right now researchers are using satellite images to study soil health and help poor farmers plan their harvests more efficiently. We need a lot more of this kind of innovation. Otherwise, Big Data will be a big wasted opportunity to reduce inequity.

People often ask me, "What can I do? How can I help?"

Rich-world governments need to maintain or even increase foreign aid, which has saved millions of lives and helped many more people lift themselves out of poverty. It helps when policymakers hear from voters, especially in tough economic times, when they're looking for ways to cut budgets. I hope people let their representatives know that aid works and that they care about saving lives. Bono's group ONE.org is a great channel for getting your voice heard.

Companies—especially those in the technology sector—can dedicate a percentage of their top innovators' time to issues that could help people who've been left out of the global economy or deprived of opportunity here in the US. If you write great code or are an expert in genomics or know how to develop new seeds, I'd encourage you to learn more about the problems of the poorest and see how you can help.

At heart I'm an optimist. Technology is helping us overcome our biggest challenges. Just as important, it's also bringing the world closer together. Today we can sit at our desks and see people thousands of miles away in real time. I think this helps explain the growing interest young people today have in global health and poverty. It's getting harder and harder for those of us in the rich world to ignore poverty and suffering, even if it's happening half a planet away.

Technology is unlocking the innate compassion we have for our fellow human beings. In the end, that combination—the advances of science together with our emerging global conscience—may be the most powerful tool we have for improving the world.

Think Globally, Act Massively

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation focuses on catalytic philanthropy—invest­ments that can yield massive returns. That means finding areas where governments and private businesses aren’t innovating. Here are some of the founda­tion’s major activities over the past 15 years.

Pledged $750 million to help set up the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immuniza­tion (now the GAVI Alliance), supported by leading members of the world health community and experts in international childhood diseases.

Gave $50 million to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

Launched the Gates Millennium Scholars program to provide 1,000 low-income and minority students a year with scholarships and support for select advanced degrees at any college or university.

Officially established the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with a focus on health, education, and libraries.

Pledged $100 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculo­sis, and Malaria—the first of $1.4 billion in commitments to an organization that has helped save more than 9 million lives.

Announced the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative to fund research that promises to greatly advance work against diseases that disproportionately affect people in the developing world.

Created Agricultural Development, beginning with a $150 million joint investment with the Rockefeller Foundation, to establish the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, which helps lift poor farmers out of poverty.

Launched the Measures of Effective Teaching Project with 3,000 participating teachers to create better feedback and development systems for educators.

Called on the global health community to declare this the Decade of Vaccines, with the goal of saving more than 20 million lives by 2020; pledged $10 billion to help develop and deliver vaccines.

Launched the Next Generation Learning Challenges to push innovation that promotes personalized student learning.

Hosted the GAVI Alliance pledging conference, which raised $4.3 billion from governments, philan­thropists, and the private sector to help immunize nearly 250 million of the world’s poorest children by 2015.

Offered a $42 million reward for the invention of a toilet that can provide safe, affordable sanitation to the developing world while processing the waste into reusable energy, fertilizer, and fresh water.

Joined 13 pharmaceutical companies, the US, UK, and UAE governments, the World Bank, and various global health organizations in a coordinated push to eliminate or control 10 neglected tropical diseases by the end of 2020.

Melinda Gates chaired the Landmark London Summit on Family Planning, which united global leaders to provide 120 million women in the world’s poorest countries with access to contraceptives by 2020.

Supported a six-year, $5.5 billion effort to eradicate polio by 2018.

Bill Gates’ Contributions to Computer Technology Essay

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Introduction

The child prodigy, the complex genius, gates as a visionary, gates as a flawed hero.

Bibliography

Without a doubt, the single most influential figure within the field of microcomputer technology is Bill Gates. He was one of the pioneers of microcomputer technology and since his departure from IBM in the early 1980s, he has gone on to dominate the microcomputer software industry. Today, outside of the Apple brand of microcomputers Microsoft’s operating system can be found on each and every new computer sold. In order to examine the contributions made by Mr. Gates, it is prudent that we examine his life as a whole. This examination will begin with his childhood and culminate with his present life.

Upon examination of articles written about Gates and quotations from Gates recounting his early childhood, several events stand out in significance as key to depicting the future potential of Gates to transform the world with his view of technology. These childhood stories prominently feature Gates’ tenacity and relentlessness, crafting a portrait of a child destined for greatness. The repetition of these stories in the mass media helps form our first portrait of Gates as the child prodigy.

For example, Gates’ mother, Mary Gates, as a member of the Lakeside School Mothers Club, used rummage sale proceeds to install a computer terminal at the school. Gates became immediately engrossed with it. By eighth grade, Gates was actually earning money doing computer programming. In tenth grade, he wrote a class-scheduling program for the school and began teaching computer classes. The Lakeside Programmers Group offers a first glimpse into Gates’ managerial skills, programming talent, and drive to succeed.

This multi-faceted portrait of Gates is richly textured, supported by several characterizations of Gates that when combined form the portrait of the complex genius. The constellation of characterizations of this portrait includes borderline autism, a demanding/explosive nature, and an uncanny tendency for “being right.” The year 1983 includes a significant moment in the public shaping of Gates’ reputation as a complex genius.

In 1983, at 28 years of age, Gates was named by People magazine as number 6 of the 25 most intriguing people of the year, spawning one of the most frequently printed and repeated summaries of his reputation: “Gates is to software what Edison was to the light bulb—part innovator, part entrepreneur, and full-time genius.” Gates was the first representative of the computer industry ever chosen for inclusion on People ‘s list.

Personal qualities of Gates highlighted in the article include his youth—”there is a hint of Andy Hardy in his boyish grin and unruly cowlick”—and his genius—”Gates got there by writing truly elegant, bug-free computer programs… some people never do… slick tight code must be intuitive, a bold leap of microchips. ” When asked by Seattle Times reporter Kathleen Brooks about his reaction to being included in People’s listing, Gates responded: “I was happy that the article told what the company was doing instead of just focusing on me.”

While that may be true of the article’s text, the editors of People portrayed Gates in a visually compelling light that reinforced the portrait of the complex genius, focusing on the incongruence of the highly successful, yet overly casual and youthful corporate leader. Gates is posed on a sofa resembling a giant computer created for the photo shoot, and was instructed to wear inexpensive white sneakers displayed prominently in the picture, as opposed to the loafers he had come to the studio wearing. Both the sneakers and the couch were paid for by People magazine.

In his own books and speeches, and in excerpts from media interviews, Gates has sold not only his products but also his vision of technology’s place in society. This self-portrayal as a Utopian visionary depicts leadership strategies commonly associated with social movement leaders. Hartog and Verburg contend that when communicating a vision, charismatic leaders engage in framing, “placing the vision in a certain context, interpreting reality for listeners and giving meaning to events.” Journalists were quick to afford Gates a seat at the table of major technology players; only in later years would Gates appear to be dining alone.

In a 1980 article in On Computing magazine, author Chris Morgan writes that “We recently took some time to look into a crystal ball with two of the leading experts in personal computing software, Bill Gates and Dan Flystra.” Gates is characterized simply as “the young President of Microsoft, Inc.” Gates speaks authoritatively about the future direction of the computer industry. In response to the question, “do you have a general feel for where the market is going in the 1980s?” Gates responds that in the future, software will define the personal computer. He predicted that the cost of computer hardware would plummet, and that software would become the determining factor in the computer industry’s success.

The 1981 Seattle Business Journal article attributes Gates’ success to his childhood fascination with computers and his uncanny timing. It summarizes the highlights of Gates’ childhood, beginning with the story of the Lakeside school and its early exposure to computers for the students, and reaching its apex in Gates’ and Allen’s ability to accurately predict the future: “A tiny silicon chip with microscopic circuits was responsible for a technological revolution—a revolution Gates and Allen could anticipate.” Once again, we see how the reputation portraits are not distinct, but rather work together to reinforce Gates’ various public images. Yet in combination, the childhood prodigy, complex genius, and secular prophet reputation-portraits function to portray Gates as a uniquely qualified technology industry leader.

No one can doubt the propensity of Mr. Gates to appear as an imperfect individual. In fact his moral character has been called to question when he obtained the work product of IBM, the company he worked for at the time when IBM dominated the personal computer operating system market. The first instance of Gates as a flawed hero is found in the delay of the highly-hyped product, Microsoft Windows. At New York’s Plaza Hotel on November 10, 1983 Gates announced the newest addition to the Microsoft family of software products: Microsoft Windows. The delivery date was to be May 1984.

With its graphical interface and capability to see multiple “windows” open simultaneously, this new operating system was hyped as being a milestone for ushering computers into the non-specialist arena. However, the product did not actually make it to market until July 1985. The press characterized this delay as the first major embarrassment for Microsoft. In a 1984 InfoWorld editorial, computer industry professional Stewart Alsop wrote that Microsoft “seems to have fallen into a bad habit with Windows. Announce, show, promise, and delay. Then delay some more.”

A second embarrassment for Gates and Microsoft comes from their lackluster performance in the computer games market. MSX, a Microsoft-designed operating system made especially for game-oriented computer enthusiasts was poorly received at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in January 1985. A Seattle Times article characterized MSX as “dead technology,” and quoted an Info World column labeling MSX “the Pong of the 1980s.” Though this article did not mention Gates specifically, still it had a negative impact on his image. After all, Gates and Microsoft are so intimately connected that the tarnishing of one reputation necessarily impacts the other.

Further, when a company has experienced the phenomenal business success Microsoft enjoyed in its first few years, the media is always ready to find fault. For example, an August 1985 article in The Seattle Times detailed Microsoft’s fiscal sales as growing 44 percent to $140 million, but characterized this growth as “a sign that the company isn’t growing quite as fast as it did in the past eight years.” At the same time as the company began experiencing its first taste of failure, they also began reaching out directly to consumers—perhaps in response to their brush with negative publicity.

Brooks, Kathleen. “Microsoft’s Bill Gates Is People’s Choice.” The Seattle Times, 1984.

Buck, Richard. “Hard Going for Microsoft. Trade Show Is Cool toward Machines with Microsoft Systems,” The Seattle Times, 1985.

“Dropping out of Harvard Pays Off for a Computer Whiz Kid Who’s Making Hard Cash from Software.” People Weekly, 1984, 36-37.

Hartog, Deanne. “Charisma and Rhetoric: Communicative Techniques of International Business Leaders.” Leadership Quarterly 8 (1997): 355-391.

Manes, Stephen, and Paul Andrews. Gates: How Microsoft’s Mogul Reinvented an Industry and Made Himself the Richest Man in America. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994.

Morgan, Chris. “Software in the 80s: Two Interviews.” On Computing, Fall 1980, 36-39.

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Short Essay on Bill Gates in English for Students | PDF

Short essay on bill gates.

Short Essay on Bill Gates in English (Download PDF) | Bill Gates is one of the richest men in the world and it is said that he earns 15 lakh rupees per minute. If Bill Gates had his own country, it would be the richest country. Friends, whatever Bill Gates did to get success, let us try to provide information about his works and life.

He was born on 28 October 1955 in Seattle, Washington US, his full name is William Henry Gates. Father’s name is William H Gates Sr. and mother’s name is Mary Maxwell Gates. He attended Lakeside School, Seattle in Washington US which was the best school at that time.

He was talented in school books as well as studies and he used to study Psycholopedia. In 1969, Bill began attending high school. This was the time when the man went to the moon and succeeded with the help of the computer. At the same time, a company introduced its computers to Lakeside School to educate students.

Bill Gates was already a man enthusiastic about learning things. He enrolled himself in computer classes and very soon his curiosity increased to know how the computer works and used to spend most of his time in computer class.

First Income

One day Bill met Paul Allen (21 January 1953) who was 2 years older than Bill and the thinking of both did not match. No one even thought that together they would change the world. The year 1970 when Bill was 15 years old. He developed software called ‘Traff-O-Data’ which was useful for measuring traffic in the city of Seattle, for which Bill received $20,000 as first income. Thus Bill Gates entered the world of technology to create history.

Read also – Subhash Chandra Boss Essay

Father’s Will and Wisdom

In 1972 when Bill was thinking of setting up his own company. His father first suggested completing high school and enrolling in college. His father was a lawyer and wanted Bill Gates to study law as well. In 1973 Bill completed his high school studies and proved his intelligence. He got 1590 marks out of 1600 and got admission to “Harvard University”.

Microsoft Installation

In 1975, at the age of 19, both (Bill and Allen) had founded the ‘Microsoft Company’, the demand for computers increased at the time as Gates left his studies in the final year due to this stage. In the beginning, both had to struggle a lot. They used to check the code themselves and find the error in the code after the staff made the code.

Microsoft developed software in different languages ​​and started selling its product to the company. During 1978–1981 the workforce increased from 13 to 128, and approximately 1 million software was sold.

Development of Microsoft

IBM offered to develop new software, and Microsoft developed MS-DOS for IBM. IBM offered $50,000 to buy the source code, but Gates proved his wisdom not to sell it. Gates wanted IBM to install the software on every PC and pay a fee to Microsoft for each license. Microsoft’s turnover increased from 4 million to 16 million in 1983.

Termination of partnership

Partner Alan Paul ended the partnership after recovering from an illness that fell into the category of cancer. He was unable to carry on with the work of the company. So they decided to end the partnership.

Installation of Microsoft windows

In 1986 Microsoft windows were introduced in the market which was user-friendly and could be used with the help of a mouse. Being user-friendly it has captured the market in a very short span of time.

Read also – Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru essay

Married Life

On January 1, 1994, at the age of 37, he married a girl named “Melinda French” (28) who worked at Microsoft.

Now Gate is run by an organization called “The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation”, which works for health care, education, ending poverty, and welfare of people all over the world.

Words Spoken By Bill Gates

(1) Do not compare yourself with anyone and if you do this, it means that you are humiliating yourself.

(2) If you are born poor it is not your fault, but if you die poor it is your fault.

(3) I would choose a lazy person to work hard because a lazy person finds the easiest way to work hard.

(4) If you can’t make good things, then at least do things that make things look good.

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Bill Gates: A Person To Admire

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