William Henry "Bill" Gates born October 28, 1955 is an American business magnate computer programmer, and inventor. In 1975, Gates co-founded Microsoft, the world’s largest PC software company during his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of chairman, CEO and chief software architect, and was the largest individual shareholder until May 2014. Between 2009 and 2014 his wealth more than doubled from $40 billion to more than $82 billion. Between 2013 and 2014 his wealth increased by $15 billion. Gates is currently the richest man in the world. Gates is one of the best-known entrepreneurs of the personal computer revolution. Gates has been criticized for his business tactics, which have been considered anti-competitive In June 2006, Gates announced that he would be transitioning from full-time work at Microsoft to part-time work, and full-time work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He gradually transferred his duties to Ray Ozzie, chief software architect and Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer. Ozzie later left the company. Gates's last full-time day at Microsoft was June 27, 2008 He stepped down as Chairman of Microsoft in February 2014