Bill Gates is 19 on Forbes' 2026 Billionaires list. Read more about Bill Gates, their experience, their asset summary, and more here. Bill Gates — Family, Relationships, and the Private World Behind a Global Figure Few modern figures have shaped technology, wealth, and global philanthropy as profoundly as Bill Gates. While his public identity is inseparable from Microsoft and decades of influence in business and global health, Gates’ personal life—his family roots, marriage, children, and evolving relationships. Here is his life in pictures: Teenage Bill Gates (right) and Paul Allen at Lakeside High School. Graduate Gates during Commencement at the Lakeside School in 1973. Gates was arrested by New Mexico police for speeding, 1977. Bill Gates in his Bellevue office, 1980. Gates and Allen. Young CEO Bill Gates, about 27, in his Microsoft office in 1982. This article takes a closer look at the key facts about Bill Gates – from his early life and business achievements to his personal life, net worth, and social impact. William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend Paul Allen. Bill Gates is one of the most iconic business leaders and influential technology pioneers of the modern digital era. As the co-founder of Microsoft, he helped bring the power of personal computing to millions of people worldwide and made computers an indispensable part of everyday life. Gates dropped out of Harvard in 1975, ending his academic life and beginning his career as a software designer. At this time, Gates and Allen cofounded Microsoft. They wrote programs for the early Apple and Commodore machines. Bill Gates (born October 28, 1955, Seattle, Washington) is an American computer programmer and entrepreneur who cofounded Microsoft Corporation, the world’s largest personal-computer software company. William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) [1] is an American businessman, as the co-founder and former chairman of Microsoft. He is the thirteenth-richest person in the world, with his net worth stood at US$115.1 billion, as of May 2025. [2][3][4] Bill Gates is a software developer and Microsoft cofounder who helped revolutionize personal computing and became one of the world’s leading philanthropists.