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 Billionaire entrepreneur Bill Gates is cofounder of Microsoft, the world’s largest software business, and the Gates Foundation. Bill Gates is an American entrepreneur, software pioneer, investor, author, and philanthropist best known for co-founding Microsoft. His innovations helped bring personal computers into homes and businesses around the world, transforming the way people work and communicate. 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 perhaps best known as one of the wealthiest people in the world, becoming the first-ever centibillionaire in 1999 at the height of his Microsoft career. In 2021, Bill and Melinda Gates each announced they were ending their marriage after 27 years. He is now the sole chairman of the charitable Gates Foundation. Gates, who's donated more than. 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. Gates wrote his first software program at age 13. 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. Bill Gates is a software developer and Microsoft cofounder who helped revolutionize personal computing and became one of the world’s leading philanthropists. Read CNN’s Bill Gates Fast Facts for a look at the life of the co-founder of Microsoft.