Bill GatesWilliam Harry Gates ІП was born in Seattle, Washington, on October 28th, 1955. Bill’s father Bill Gates Jr. worked for a Seattle law firm and Bill’s mother Mary taught at school until they started their family. Bill’s parents were married in 1951 and two years later gave birth to their first child, Bill’s older sister, Kristanne. Two years after Bill was born and in 1964 the third and final Gates was born, her name is Libby. As a child Bill enjoyed rocking back and forth, today he still has a habit of rocking when he is thinking about something. Bill was very bored at school and his parents knew it, so they were always trying to supply him with more information to keep him busy. Bill’s parents finally decided to put him in a Private School where he would be challenged more. The Lakeside private school had just bought a new computer when Bill arrived and he was immediately hooked. In a week he knew more about the computer than his teacher at Lakeside. Learning the BASIC programming language was easy for Bill, and he was soon writing his own programmes. Bill’s love for computers and math led him to a new place around his neighbourhood that was renting соmputer time. He made an arrangement with the owners that he would get free computer time if found things that made the computer crash. During this time Bill met Paul Allen, his business partner for the rest of his life. Together they started a small company called Traf-O-Data, they sold a small computer with their own programme that could count traffic for the city. The соmpany was not a big success, but it earned the two boys some money as well as good business skills. Bill also wrote a schedule programme for his school, which he changed a bit to put little Bill Gates in a class full of the prettiest girls. Bill was considered by his classmates and his teachers as the smartest kid in school. After graduating from Lakeside Bill entered Harvard University in 1973, one of the best universities in the country. Bill was also bored here so he spent most of his time programming, playing poker and seeing how little work he could do and still get excellent marks. He told his teachers that he would be a millionaire by the time he was thirty. This was one of the few times he underestimated himself, Bill was a billionaire when he was 31. One of Bill’s teachers said, «He is a great programmer, but he is a very unpleasant human being”. The intense life-style Bill had during his first year in Harvard made him ill for most of the summer of 1974. Bill soon left Harvard for business opportunities in programming which turned him into a multi-billionaire. Later he met Melinda French, who he married, and they now have 3 children. It’s very interesting that even with all his money Bill drives himself to work in an average family car. Bill is a keen reader, and enjoys playing golf and bridge.
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