Bill Gates was a teenage computer whiz when he dropped out of Harvard to start his own company, Microsoft. Through a brilliant combination of technical prowess and business insight, Gates made Microsoft the indispensable supplier of operating systems and office software to computer users around the world. If you use a computer to write a letter, compose an e-mail or visit a web site, chances are you're using Microsoft software.
Microsoft's uncontested dominance of the personal computer software market made Bill Gates the richest man in the world. He has used his personal wealth to attack the most intractable global problems of disease and poverty through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.