Bill Gates

Bill Gates is a renowned entrepreneur and philanthropist who co-founded Microsoft, the world's largest personal computer software company. He is consistently ranked among the world's wealthiest people and has a net worth of over $100 billion.

Born in Seattle, Washington in 1955, Gates grew up in an upper-middle-class family with a strong emphasis on education. His father, William H. Gates Sr., was a prominent lawyer, and his mother, Mary Gates, was a schoolteacher. Gates showed an early interest in technology and computer programming, and he spent countless hours in the family's garage tinkering with electronics.

In 1973, Gates enrolled at Harvard University to study law, but he quickly became more interested in computer science. He dropped out of college in 1975 to pursue his passion for technology, and he and his childhood friend Paul Allen co-founded Microsoft the following year.

The company initially struggled to gain traction, but it eventually found success by providing operating system software for the growing personal computer market.