By Christiana Ioannou
William Henry Gates III was born on October 28, 1955, to William H. Gates II and Mary Maxwell Gates in Seattle, Washington. His father was a prominent lawyer in the area and his mother served on the board of directors for two major organizations. As of April 23, 2021, Bill Gates’s net worth is estimated to be $131.1 billion having grown by $799 million since the end of business day on the 22nd.
Bill Gates’s parents were not super-wealthy, but they were well-off and could afford to send him to one of the better schools in the area. At the age of 13 Gates was enrolled in the Lakeside Prep School which was one of the few schools in the state that had access to a computer. This is where Bill wrote his first software program and met Paul Allen, his future business partner. After graduating he enrolled at Harvard in 1973 but left the school after two years to begin working.
Founding of Microsoft
In 1975 He left Harvard and started Microsoft with Paul Allen. The company mainly designed software for MITS Altair, the first “personal computer.” They rewrote the first computer language called BASIC and then sold it to MITS. They only made $16,005.00 which would be about $78,798.45 in 2021. They eventually partnered with IBM and continued to write and produce computer language and other software programs.
In 1986 Microsoft made its initial public offering (IPO) and Bill Gates owned roughly 45% of the company and his net worth skyrocketed to $350 million. During the first year (1987) after Microsoft’s IPO, the share prices skyrocketed to be worth more than six times their initial value. This propelled Bill Gates’s net worth to $1.25 billion. Bill Gates became the youngest self-made billionaire ever at the age of 31. This is also the year he first met Melinda French, his future wife.
1990 Through Now
1990
- Net Worth $2.5 billion
Microsoft released Windows 3.0 which sold more than 2 million copies that first year. Microsoft also became the first major software company to over more than $1 billion in annual sales.
1995
- Net Worth $14.8 billion
Microsoft released Windows 95 and Bill Gates’s wealth followed the rise in Microsoft’s share prices. He also married Melinda in 1994.
1997
- Net Worth $39.8 billion
Microsoft continued to flourish as it became the main computer software company in the world. Bill’s wealth more than doubled from what it had been in 1995. He became the richest man in the world passing Warren Buffet who was worth about $19 billion at the time.
1999
- Net Worth $85 billion
His shares hit a record high at one point in 1999 Bill Gate’s was worth more than $100 billion. His net worth grew by roughly $3 million per hour.
2000
- Net Worth $63 billion
This was the first time that Microsoft’s meteoric rise was slowed down and Gate’s wealth suffered as well. The main causes were the tech bubble bursting and an antitrust lawsuit brought by the US government. Gates also steps down as the CEO of Microsoft.
2008
- Net Worth $58 billion
This was the first time that Gate’s lost the title of the world’s richest person. Not only did he lose first place, but he slid down to third.
Bill Gates’s net worth took a serious hit in 2009 because of the global financial crisis. After this, it quickly rebounded to pre-crisis levels in 2010. Since then, he has been steadily growing his wealth as he continues to donate to philanthropic causes.
His wealth continues to increase every day and he is now the 4th richest person as of April 2021. His net worth is estimated to be $131.1 billion and looks to still be increasing at a rapid rate.
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