Bill Gates
William Henry Gates III, KBE (born October 28, 1955), commonly known as Bill Gates, is an American businessman and a microcomputer pioneer. Along with others, he wrote the original Altair BASIC interpreter for the Altair 8800 (an early microcomputer). With Paul Allen, he co-founded Microsoft Corporation, and is now its chairman and "Chief Software Architect." According to Forbes magazine, Gates is the wealthiest person in the world. BiographyBill Gates was born in Seattle, Washington, on October 28, 1955, to William H. Gates, Sr., a corporate lawyer, and Mary Maxwell Gates, board member of Berkshire Hathaway, First Interstate Bank, Pacific Northwest Bell and the national board of United Way. He is William Henry Gates III, his grandfather being the true William Henry Gates Sr. Gates attended Lakeside School, Seattle's most exclusive prep school, where he was able to develop his programming skills on the school's minicomputer. In need of more computing power, Gates and his computer buddy, Paul Allen, sneaked into the University of Washington computer labs. They were later caught but struck an agreement with lab administrators by providing free computer help to students. He later went on to study at Harvard University but dropped out without graduating to pursue what would become a lifelong career in software development. It was while he was at Harvard that he met the current CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer. They were roommates during their freshman year. While he was a student at Harvard, he co-wrote with Paul Allen the original Altair BASIC interpreter for the Altair 8800 (the first commercially successful personal computer) in the mid 1970s. It was inspired by BASIC, an easy-to-learn programming language developed at Dartmouth College for teaching purposes. Gates married Melinda French on January 1, 1994. They have three children, Jennifer Katharine Gates (born April 26, 1996), Rory John Gates (born May 23, 1999) and Phoebe Adele Gates (born September 14, 2002). In 1994, Gates acquired the Codex Leicester, a collection of writings by Leonardo da Vinci; as of 2003 it was on display at the Seattle Art Museum. In 1997, Gates was the victim of a bizarre extortion plot by Chicago resident Adam Quinn Pletcher. Gates testified at the subsequent trial. Pletcher was convicted and sentenced in July 1998 to six years in prison. In February 1998 Gates was attacked by Noël Godin with a cream pie. According to Forbes, Gates donated money to the 2004 presidential campaign of George W. Bush. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Gates is cited as having donated at least $33,335 to over 50 political campaigns during the 2004 election cycle. On December 14, 2004, Bill Gates joined Berkshire Hathaway's board, formalizing the relationship between him and Warren Buffett. Berkshire Hathaway is a conglomerate that includes Geico (automobile insurance), Benjamin Moore (paint) and Fruit of the Loom (textiles). Gates also serves on the board of Icos, a Bothell biotech company. On March 2, 2005, the Foreign Office of the United Kingdom announced that Gates would receive the title of Knight of the British Empire for his contribution to enterprise in the United Kingdom and his efforts in poverty reduction around the world. Because he is not a Commonwealth citizen, he cannot use the title of "Sir," but he may put the letters "KBE" after his name. HomeThe Gates family lives in the exclusive suburb of Medina, Washington, in a huge earth-sheltered home in the side of a hill overlooking Lake Washington. The Gates home is a very modern 21st century house in the "Pacific Lodge" style, with advanced electronic systems everywhere. In one respect though it is more like an 18th or 19th century mansion: it has a large private library with a domed reading room. While it does have a classic flavour, the home has many unique qualities. Visitors are surveyed and given a microchip upon entrance. This small chip sends signals throughout the house, and a given room's temperature and other conditions will change according to preset user preferences. According to King County public records, as of 2002, the total assessed value of the property (land and house) is $113 million, and the annual property tax is just over $1 million.
Microsoft CorporationBill GatesMain article: Microsoft In 1975, Gates and Allen co-founded Micro-Soft, later Microsoft Corporation, to market their version of BASIC, called Microsoft BASIC. Microsoft BASIC became the foundation of a successful software licensing business, being bundled (usually in ROM) with most home and personal computers of the 1970s and 1980s. In February 1976, Bill Gates wrote the Open Letter to Hobbyists, which annoyed the computer hobbyist community by asserting that a commercial market existed for computer software. Gates stated in the letter that software should not be copied without the publisher's permission, which he equated to piracy. While legally correct, Gates' proposal was unprecedented in a community that was influenced by its ham radio legacy and hacker ethic, in which innovations and knowledge were freely shared in the community. Nevertheless, Gates was right about the market prospects, and his efforts paid off: Microsoft Corporation became one of the world's most successful commercial enterprises and a key player in the creation of a retail software industry. Microsoft's key moment came when IBM was planning to enter the personal computer market with its IBM Personal Computer (PC), which was released in 1985. IBM approached Microsoft for an operating system (they had already licensed its language products), but Microsoft did not have one to sell and referred IBM to Digital Research. At Digital Research, IBM representatives spoke to Gary Kildall's wife Dorothy, but she declined to sign their standard non-disclosure agreement, which she considered overly burdensome. IBM then returned to talk to Microsoft. Gates obtained rights to a cloned design of CP/M, QDOS, from Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer products for $50,000 and licensed it to IBM for "about $80,000", according to Gates, and MS-DOS/PC-DOS was born. Later, IBM discovered that Gates' operating system could have infringement problems with CP/M, contacted Kildall, and in exchange for a promise not to sue, made an agreement that CP/M would be sold along with PC-DOS when the IBM PC was released. The price set by IBM for CP/M was $250, and for MS-DOS/PC-DOS it was $40. MS-DOS/PC-DOS outsold CP/M many times over, becoming the standard. Microsoft's licensing deal with IBM was not particularly lucrative in itself (it did not include royalties), but critically, Microsoft retained the right to sell MS-DOS to other computer manufacturers. By marketing MS-DOS aggressively to manufacturers of IBM-PC clones, Microsoft gained unprecedented visibility in the microcomputer industry, even rivalling IBM. In the mid-1980s Gates became excited about the possibilities of compact disc technology for storage and sponsored the publication of the book CD-ROM: The New Papyrus that promoted the idea of CD-ROM. In the late 1980s, Microsoft and IBM partnered in the development of a more advanced operating system, OS/2. The operating system was marketed in connection with a new hardware design, the PS/2, that was proprietary to IBM. As the project progressed, Gates oversaw continuing friction with IBM over the system's design, hardware support, and user interface. Ultimately he came to believe that IBM wanted to marginalize Microsoft from having any input in OS/2's development. On May 16, 1991, Gates announced to Microsoft employees that the OS/2 partnership was over and Microsoft would henceforth focus its platform efforts on Windows and the NT kernel. In the ensuing years OS/2 fell to the side, and Windows became the favored PC platform. During the transition from MS-DOS to Windows, Microsoft gained ground on application software competitors such as WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3. Nearly a decade later, Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser displaced Netscape's Navigator, which many attributed to Microsoft's inclusion of Internet Explorer in Windows at no extra charge. An opposing view is that the inclusion in Windows was less important in Internet Explorer's adoption than Microsoft's improvement of the browser's features to a level comparable with Navigator. As the architect of Microsoft's product strategy, Gates has aggressively broadened the company's range of products and, once it has obtained a leading position in a category, has vigorously defended that position. His and other Microsoft executives' strategic decisions have more than once drawn the concern of competition regulators and in some cases have been ruled illegal. In 2000, Gates promoted long-time friend and Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer to the role of Chief Executive Officer and took on the role of "Chief Software Architect". Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationWith his wife, Gates founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a charitable organization. The foundation's grants have provided funds for underrepresented minority college scholarships, AIDS prevention, diseases that strike mainly in the third world, and other causes. The Foundation currently provides 90% of the world budget for the attempted eradication of poliomyelitis (polio), the World Health Organization having 'moved on' to other diseases. In June 1999, Gates and his wife donated US$5 billion to their foundation. They have donated more than US$100 million to help children suffering from AIDS. On January 26, 2005, it was announced that the Foundation had made a further contribution of US$750 million to the international Vaccine Fund to help fight diseases such as diphtheria, whooping cough, measles, poliomyelitis and yellow fever. As of 2005, the foundation has an endowment of approximately US$28 billion. Accolades
Estimated wealthGates has been number one of the "Forbes 400" 1993-2005; he has been number one of Forbes list of "The World's Richest People" in 1996 and 1998-2005. According to this list his net worth has been:
The reduction in Gates' wealth since 2000 reflects a fall in Microsoft's share price and the multi-billion dollar gifts he has made to his charitable foundations. Again, according to a 2004 Forbes magazine article, Gates has given away over $28 billion to charities over the last few years. He is the wealthiest person even including heads of state whose wealth is tied to their position (although the standard Forbes list does not include heads of state, Forbes has released separate lists for the estimated wealth of heads of state; when the lists are combined, Bill Gates still remains the world's wealthiest person). Portrayals in films and TVBill Gates is often characterized as the quintessential example of a super-intelligent nerd with immense power. This has in turn led to pop culture stereotypes of Gates as a tyrant or evil genius commanding power over an all-powerful empire of technology. Several films and television shows have portrayed either the real Bill Gates or a fictionalized version of him, often according to these cliches. Bill Gates is also thought by the media to be obsessed with his IQ, and IQ in general. His IQ is commonly believed to be around 160; however, many people estimate that the results of his SAT exam (required for admittance to Harvard) would only translate to a more modest IQ score of around 120-140. Fictional portrayalsFilms and television shows that have portrayed a fictionalized version of Gates include:
Real-life portrayalsFilms and television shows where Bill Gates has actually appeared as himself include:
References in computer softwareMany computer programs, most of which are for systems other than Microsoft Windows, contain more-or-less direct references to Bill Gates. Obviously, these references are less than flattering. Some include:
QuotesWikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about: Bill Gates
GalleryThis page about Bill Gates includes information from a Wikipedia article. Additional articles about Bill Gates News stories about Bill Gates External links for Bill Gates Videos for Bill Gates Wikis about Bill Gates Discussion Groups about Bill Gates Blogs about Bill Gates Images of Bill Gates |
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Films and television shows where Bill Gates has actually appeared as himself include:. Pelé is the first sports figure featured on a video game with the Atari 2600 game Pelé's Soccer. Films and television shows that have portrayed a fictionalized version of Gates include:. In 1970, the two factions involved in a civil war in Nigeria agreed for a 48-hour ceasefire so they could watch Pelé play an exhibition game in Lagos. His IQ is commonly believed to be around 160; however, many people estimate that the results of his SAT exam (required for admittance to Harvard) would only translate to a more modest IQ score of around 120-140. Pelé is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. Bill Gates is also thought by the media to be obsessed with his IQ, and IQ in general. Several films and television shows have portrayed either the real Bill Gates or a fictionalized version of him, often according to these cliches. (For details of the controversial process, see Sports Illustrated Article). This has in turn led to pop culture stereotypes of Gates as a tyrant or evil genius commanding power over an all-powerful empire of technology. In December 2000, Pelé was named Footballer of the Century by a "Family of Football" committee appointed by FIFA, after a web poll favored Diego Maradona. Bill Gates is often characterized as the quintessential example of a super-intelligent nerd with immense power. He was voted athlete of the century by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1999. He is the wealthiest person even including heads of state whose wealth is tied to their position (although the standard Forbes list does not include heads of state, Forbes has released separate lists for the estimated wealth of heads of state; when the lists are combined, Bill Gates still remains the world's wealthiest person). In 1995, he was appointed an Ambassador for UNESCO at the Goodwill Games. Again, according to a 2004 Forbes magazine article, Gates has given away over $28 billion to charities over the last few years. In 1992, Pelé was appointed a United Nations Ambassador for Ecology and the Environment. The reduction in Gates' wealth since 2000 reflects a fall in Microsoft's share price and the multi-billion dollar gifts he has made to his charitable foundations. In 1997, he was given an honorary British knighthood. According to this list his net worth has been:. He was awarded Brazil's Gold Medal for outstanding services to the sport, before becoming Sports Minister in 1994. Gates has been number one of the "Forbes 400" 1993-2005; he has been number one of Forbes list of "The World's Richest People" in 1996 and 1998-2005. In his 92 appearances for the Brazilian team, he scored 77 goals. As of 2005, the foundation has an endowment of approximately US$28 billion. He ended his career with a total of 1281 goals in 1363 matches, becoming the highest goalscorer in professional football ever. On January 26, 2005, it was announced that the Foundation had made a further contribution of US$750 million to the international Vaccine Fund to help fight diseases such as diphtheria, whooping cough, measles, poliomyelitis and yellow fever. Pelé is in third place in the list of all-time top goalscorers in World Cup play, with 12 goals, and he is the only player who won three World Cups with his team. They have donated more than US$100 million to help children suffering from AIDS. Nascimento, 35, was arrested along with some 50 other people after an eight-month investigation into a cocaine trafficking operation in the port city of Santos. In June 1999, Gates and his wife donated US$5 billion to their foundation. In 2005, Pelé drew international media attention due to the imprisonment of Edson Cholbi Nascimento, his son, who was arrested in an operation to dismantle a drug gang in southeastern Brazil. The Foundation currently provides 90% of the world budget for the attempted eradication of poliomyelitis (polio), the World Health Organization having 'moved on' to other diseases. Pelé is certainly one of the most famous men in football, with his nickname being recognized even by those unfamiliar with the sport. The foundation's grants have provided funds for underrepresented minority college scholarships, AIDS prevention, diseases that strike mainly in the third world, and other causes. Pelé is a long-standing contributor for children's rights at UNICEF and acts as the figurehead of a charity for erectile dysfunction. With his wife, Gates founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a charitable organization. In 1995, President Cardoso appointed Pelé to the position of Minister of Sports. In 2000, Gates promoted long-time friend and Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer to the role of Chief Executive Officer and took on the role of "Chief Software Architect". He also played in a friendly match with the Lebanese club Nejmeh in 1974 (see Football in Lebanon). His and other Microsoft executives' strategic decisions have more than once drawn the concern of competition regulators and in some cases have been ruled illegal. The exhibition game was sold out six weeks beforehand. As the architect of Microsoft's product strategy, Gates has aggressively broadened the company's range of products and, once it has obtained a leading position in a category, has vigorously defended that position. He played his last game as a professional on October 1, 1977 in front of a capacity crowd at Giants Stadium against his old club, Santos; he played the first half with the Cosmos and the second half with Santos. An opposing view is that the inclusion in Windows was less important in Internet Explorer's adoption than Microsoft's improvement of the browser's features to a level comparable with Navigator. After his retirement from Brazilian football on October 3, 1974, he joined the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League. Nearly a decade later, Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser displaced Netscape's Navigator, which many attributed to Microsoft's inclusion of Internet Explorer in Windows at no extra charge. His unrivalled talent in by far the world's most popular sport has led many to consider him to have been the finest sportsman in the history of the world. During the transition from MS-DOS to Windows, Microsoft gained ground on application software competitors such as WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3. His immense haul of over twelve hundred career goals in all competitions has not even come close to being matched by any other man in the history of the professional game. In the ensuing years OS/2 fell to the side, and Windows became the favored PC platform. Pelé's sublime technique and deft touch combined with his phenomenal dribbling skills and incredible scoring ability cannot be overstated. On May 16, 1991, Gates announced to Microsoft employees that the OS/2 partnership was over and Microsoft would henceforth focus its platform efforts on Windows and the NT kernel. Brazil defeated Italy 4-1 in the final, with Pelé scoring one and gloriously setting up Jairzinho for another in what some still consider to be the finest ever world cup. Ultimately he came to believe that IBM wanted to marginalize Microsoft from having any input in OS/2's development. The 1970 team, featuring famous players like Rivelino, Jairzinho, and Tostão, is often considered to be the greatest team ever. As the project progressed, Gates oversaw continuing friction with IBM over the system's design, hardware support, and user interface. Although his contributions were limited in the 1962 and 1966 campaigns because of injuries inflicted by the dirty play of opposition players, the 1970 tournament in Mexico was to be Pelé's last. The operating system was marketed in connection with a new hardware design, the PS/2, that was proprietary to IBM. He played in three more Brazilian world cup teams in 1962, 1966 and 1970, two of which Brazil won (1962 and 1970). In the late 1980s, Microsoft and IBM partnered in the development of a more advanced operating system, OS/2. In 1958, Pelé became the youngest ever World Cup winner in Sweden at 17, scoring two goals in the final as Brazil crushed Sweden 5-2 in Stockholm. In the mid-1980s Gates became excited about the possibilities of compact disc technology for storage and sponsored the publication of the book CD-ROM: The New Papyrus that promoted the idea of CD-ROM. Just ten months after signing professionally, the teenager was called up to the Brazilian national team. By marketing MS-DOS aggressively to manufacturers of IBM-PC clones, Microsoft gained unprecedented visibility in the microcomputer industry, even rivalling IBM. When the new season started, Pelé was given a starting place in the first team and, at the age of just sixteen, became the top scorer in the league. Microsoft's licensing deal with IBM was not particularly lucrative in itself (it did not include royalties), but critically, Microsoft retained the right to sell MS-DOS to other computer manufacturers. Pelé was offered professional terms and scored four goals in his first league game. MS-DOS/PC-DOS outsold CP/M many times over, becoming the standard. De Brito told the directors at Santos that the fifteen year old would be "the greatest football player in the world". The price set by IBM for CP/M was $250, and for MS-DOS/PC-DOS it was $40. In 1956, Pele's mentor took him to the city of São Paulo, to try out for professional club Santos. Later, IBM discovered that Gates' operating system could have infringement problems with CP/M, contacted Kildall, and in exchange for a promise not to sue, made an agreement that CP/M would be sold along with PC-DOS when the IBM PC was released. At the age of eleven, Pelé was scouted by Brazilian legend Waldemar de Brito and was invited to join de Brito's amateur team, Clube Atlético Bauru. Gates obtained rights to a cloned design of CP/M, QDOS, from Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer products for $50,000 and licensed it to IBM for "about $80,000", according to Gates, and MS-DOS/PC-DOS was born. He was given his first leather ball on his sixth birthday by his father's teammate, Sosa. IBM then returned to talk to Microsoft. Growing up in poverty on the streets of Bauru, he could not afford a football and usually played with either a sock stuffed with papers or a grapefruit. At Digital Research, IBM representatives spoke to Gary Kildall's wife Dorothy, but she declined to sign their standard non-disclosure agreement, which she considered overly burdensome. Later in life, when reflecting that the world came to know the name, he stated his belief that it was chosen for him by God. IBM approached Microsoft for an operating system (they had already licensed its language products), but Microsoft did not have one to sell and referred IBM to Digital Research. He originally disliked the nickname, but the more he complained the more he was called by it. Microsoft's key moment came when IBM was planning to enter the personal computer market with its IBM Personal Computer (PC), which was released in 1985. He was named after American inventor Thomas Edison, and did not receive the nickname "Pelé" until his school days. Nevertheless, Gates was right about the market prospects, and his efforts paid off: Microsoft Corporation became one of the world's most successful commercial enterprises and a key player in the creation of a retail software industry. Edson was born in Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Brazil, the son of Fluminense footballer João Ramos do Nascimento, also known as Dondinho. While legally correct, Gates' proposal was unprecedented in a community that was influenced by its ham radio legacy and hacker ethic, in which innovations and knowledge were freely shared in the community. . Gates stated in the letter that software should not be copied without the publisher's permission, which he equated to piracy. Since his full retirement in 1977 he has served as an ambassador for the sport. In February 1976, Bill Gates wrote the Open Letter to Hobbyists, which annoyed the computer hobbyist community by asserting that a commercial market existed for computer software. Over the course of his career, Pelé scored over a thousand goals and won three world cups. Microsoft BASIC became the foundation of a successful software licensing business, being bundled (usually in ROM) with most home and personal computers of the 1970s and 1980s. Technically outstanding, he also became famed for his lightning speed and his strength on the ball. In 1975, Gates and Allen co-founded Micro-Soft, later Microsoft Corporation, to market their version of BASIC, called Microsoft BASIC. He was often considered to be the complete footballer, as he was completely two-footed, a prolific finisher, exceptional at dribbling and passing, and was a remarkably good tackler for a forward. Main article: Microsoft. Edson Arantes do Nascimento, KBE (born October 23, 1940), nicknamed Pelé, a Brazilian, is a former football player and thought by many to be the finest player of all time. According to King County public records, as of 2002, the total assessed value of the property (land and house) is $113 million, and the annual property tax is just over $1 million. This small chip sends signals throughout the house, and a given room's temperature and other conditions will change according to preset user preferences. Visitors are surveyed and given a microchip upon entrance. While it does have a classic flavour, the home has many unique qualities. In one respect though it is more like an 18th or 19th century mansion: it has a large private library with a domed reading room. The Gates home is a very modern 21st century house in the "Pacific Lodge" style, with advanced electronic systems everywhere. The Gates family lives in the exclusive suburb of Medina, Washington, in a huge earth-sheltered home in the side of a hill overlooking Lake Washington. Because he is not a Commonwealth citizen, he cannot use the title of "Sir," but he may put the letters "KBE" after his name. On March 2, 2005, the Foreign Office of the United Kingdom announced that Gates would receive the title of Knight of the British Empire for his contribution to enterprise in the United Kingdom and his efforts in poverty reduction around the world. Gates also serves on the board of Icos, a Bothell biotech company. Berkshire Hathaway is a conglomerate that includes Geico (automobile insurance), Benjamin Moore (paint) and Fruit of the Loom (textiles). On December 14, 2004, Bill Gates joined Berkshire Hathaway's board, formalizing the relationship between him and Warren Buffett. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Gates is cited as having donated at least $33,335 to over 50 political campaigns during the 2004 election cycle. Bush. According to Forbes, Gates donated money to the 2004 presidential campaign of George W. In February 1998 Gates was attacked by Noël Godin with a cream pie. Pletcher was convicted and sentenced in July 1998 to six years in prison. Gates testified at the subsequent trial. In 1997, Gates was the victim of a bizarre extortion plot by Chicago resident Adam Quinn Pletcher. In 1994, Gates acquired the Codex Leicester, a collection of writings by Leonardo da Vinci; as of 2003 it was on display at the Seattle Art Museum. They have three children, Jennifer Katharine Gates (born April 26, 1996), Rory John Gates (born May 23, 1999) and Phoebe Adele Gates (born September 14, 2002). Gates married Melinda French on January 1, 1994. It was inspired by BASIC, an easy-to-learn programming language developed at Dartmouth College for teaching purposes. While he was a student at Harvard, he co-wrote with Paul Allen the original Altair BASIC interpreter for the Altair 8800 (the first commercially successful personal computer) in the mid 1970s. They were roommates during their freshman year. It was while he was at Harvard that he met the current CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer. He later went on to study at Harvard University but dropped out without graduating to pursue what would become a lifelong career in software development. They were later caught but struck an agreement with lab administrators by providing free computer help to students. In need of more computing power, Gates and his computer buddy, Paul Allen, sneaked into the University of Washington computer labs. Gates attended Lakeside School, Seattle's most exclusive prep school, where he was able to develop his programming skills on the school's minicomputer. He is William Henry Gates III, his grandfather being the true William Henry Gates Sr. Gates, Sr., a corporate lawyer, and Mary Maxwell Gates, board member of Berkshire Hathaway, First Interstate Bank, Pacific Northwest Bell and the national board of United Way. Bill Gates was born in Seattle, Washington, on October 28, 1955, to William H. . With Paul Allen, he co-founded Microsoft Corporation, and is now its chairman and "Chief Software Architect." According to Forbes magazine, Gates is the wealthiest person in the world. Along with others, he wrote the original Altair BASIC interpreter for the Altair 8800 (an early microcomputer). William Henry Gates III, KBE (born October 28, 1955), commonly known as Bill Gates, is an American businessman and a microcomputer pioneer. I don't know if there's a god or not, but I think religious principles are quite valid. — PBS interview with David Frost, November 1995. In terms of doing things I take a fairly scientific approach to why things happen and how they happen. I want to make clear that we respect the role of government in our legal and economic system. — June 9, 2000 ([4]). In the RTS classic Total Annihilation: Core Contingency, the urban tileset has a structure called the "Willy Gates Building." It is very valuable to reclaim. In the Illusion Softworks game Mafia, a "William Gates" is featured as a supposed Kentuckian bootlegger. The wallpaper is a Tux in a yellow jumpsuit similar to that of the Bride in Kill Bill, who is going to kill Bill (Gates). The name of SLAX's Kill Bill edition is a parody of the movie Kill Bill. A computer program for designing computer chips published by Electronic Design Automation is called "Build Gates," a gate in this context referring to a logic gate. The company's evil president is a small, nerdy-looking guy with glasses called Elmo Pug, who bears a striking resemblance to Bill Gates. The PC adventure game Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon features a software company called ScumSoft, which is an obvious parody of Microsoft Corporation. The familiar form of his name, Gil Bates, is a spoonerism of Bill Gates. The Windows game Arcanum includes a character named Gilbert Bates, who is a fabulously wealthy entrepreneur. In Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor, the player is given a side-quest to kill an evil villain named "William Setag" and rescue the princess he kidnapped. The Amiga game Uropa², in which the main enemy is known as "Bill Setag" (Gates in reverse). The Open Source game XBill, in which a character known as "Bill", wearing large eyeglasses, is trying to install Wingdows (a virus disguised as windows) on computers running other operating systems. Triumph of the Nerds — Bill Gates gives an interview in the documentary film that explores the history of the personal computer. Crane does not get any attention. However, straight from the moment the radio show starts, all the callers only have questions for Gates (about Windows computers), and Dr. Frasier Crane's radio show. Frasier — Bill Gates is invited as a guest speaker on Dr. In Lois & Clark (Season 3, Episode 03, "Contact"), Patrick Labyorteaux plays a software businessman named "Bob Fences", a play on Bill Gates' name. An episode of Pinky And The Brain features The Brain's arch Nemesis, Snowball, attempting to take over the world by impersonating the millionaire software designer "Bill Grates". Gait who owns a giant software conglomerate named Macrosoft. In Robopon 2 (video game for the Game Boy Advance), there is a man named Mr. In Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge, a man known only as "Chairman Bing" appears as the CEO of a company named Massivesoft. Family Guy (Season 3, Episode 13) — Gates flies through the air on a jetpack with Disney CEO and chairman Michael Eisner, who says, "God, the people look like ants from up here", to which Gates replies, "They are ants, Michael, they ARE ants!". Gates also appears in episode 4 of this series, in an animated "Matrix for Windows" spoof, mocking the growing size of Microsoft operating systems. Ultimately, it drives the animated Gates to near-suicide, at which point the paperclip proclaims, "Hi there, it looks like you're writing a suicide note", and a number of disgruntled customers appear, continuing, "would you like some help?". 2DTV (2004) (Series 4, Episode 6) — Bill Gates is seen at his "computer-shaped" home writing a letter to a customer, when the Office Assistant pops up and starts annoying Gates. Nothing So Strange (2002) — a film about a fictional assassination of Gates in 1999. (Henry is Bill Gates' middle name.). Clockstoppers (2002) — Henry Gates is a megalomaniacal corporate head who wants to take over the world using technology. However Gary Winston mentions Bill Gates (in the third person) at one point in the film, implying that Winston is not meant to be Gates; though this device may have been merely to avert possible accusations of libel. Tim Robbins plays Gary Winston, the corporate head, whose characteristics and circumstances bear obvious similarities to Gates. AntiTrust (2001) — a film about a programmer in a fictional giant software company. They note the similarities in the names, William being the longhand of Bill and a stile being a small bridge over a wall used instead of a gate. Tom Clancy's Net Force (1999) — Many believe the main protagonist, William Stiles, who tries to take over the world via control of the internet, to be based on Bill Gates. Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999) — a dramatized film about the history of Apple and Microsoft, with Anthony Michael Hall playing Bill Gates. Pretty Sammy 2, an anime title, has an evil character called Biff Standard, whose software company StandardSoft tries to conquer the Japanese operating system market (dominated by the obviously superior Pineapple software in this show) by actively persecuting the main characters. When an animated Gates begins to explain just how much more stable Windows 98 actually is using technobabble, the general shoots him. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut (1999) — An Army general complains that his new Windows 98 upgrade is no more stable than his previous copy of Windows 95 and demands to see Bill Gates. When Homer asks for the money Gates replies, "Oh, I didn't get rich by writing a lot of checks! [manic laughter]". Gates orders his underlings to "buy out" Simpson's business, so they wreck the place. The Simpsons (February 15, 1998) (Season 9, Episode 5F11) — Bill Gates comes to "buy" Homer Simpson's ambiguous internet company, CompuGlobalHyperMegaNet. Carver and Gates also appear to be somewhat similar. What appears to be Carver's software development strategy has been a constant criticism of the operating system manufactured under the leadership of Bill Gates. One of the companies Carver owns is in the business of developing operating systems and software that are bug-ridden, forcing users into a perpetual upgrade cycle. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) — Elliot Carver (played by Jonathan Pryce) is the head of a major communication organisations. The author has admitted that he is based on Gates. Love You (1996) — Early in the series, Hitoshi and Saati meet an evil hacker supergenius named Billy G. A.I. The discovery makes Angela the target of a cyber-terrorist group known as the Praetorians, apparently loyal to Gregg, who erase her identity and attempt to kill her in an effort to recover the incriminating disk. The Net (1995) — Angela Bennett, a reclusive software engineer played by Sandra Bullock, inadvertently discovers a backdoor in a security program being marketed to the federal government by a Microsoft-like software company headed by billionaire Jeff Gregg, who bears a marked resemblance to Bill Gates in the few scenes where he appears. 2005 - $46.5 billion, ranked #1. 2004 - $46.6 billion, ranked #1. 2003 - $40.7 billion, ranked #1. 2002 - $52.8 billion, ranked #1. 2001 - $58.7 billion, ranked #1. 2000 - $60.0 billion, ranked #1. 1999 - $90.0 billion, ranked #1. 1998 - $51.0 billion, ranked #1. 1997 - $36.4 billion, ranked #2 ([3]) (behind the Sultan of Brunei who was included for this one year despite Forbes' usual policy of excluding heads of state). 1996 - US$18.5 billion, ranked #1. [2]. Entomologists have named the Bill Gates flower fly, Eristalis gatesi, in his honor. CEO of the year, Chief Executive Officers magazine, 1994. Top 100 most powerful people in sports, The Sporting News, Ranked 28th, 1997. Top 50 Cyber Elite, Time, Ranked 1st, 1998. Upside Elite 100, Ranked 2nd, 1999. The Sunday Times power list, 1999. Top 100 influential people in media, the Guardian, 2001. Honorary doctorate from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, 2002. Honorary KBE from the United Kingdom announced, 2005 [1]. Honorary doctorate from Waseda University, 2005. Google GlobeTrotting: Bill Gates' House, satellite view of the home from Google Map. USNews.com: Technology: Bill Gates' House, interactive diagram of the house. |