At the end of the ban, the four students offered to find bugs in CCC's software in exchange for computer time. Rather than use the system via teletype, Gates went to CCC's offices and studied source code for various programs that ran on the system, including programs in FORTRAN, LISP, and machine language. The arrangement with CCC continued until 1970, when it went out of business. The following year, Information Sciences Inc. hired the four Lakeside students to write a payroll program in COBOL, providing them computer time and royalties. After his administrators became aware of his programming abilities, Gates wrote the school's computer program to schedule students in classes. He modified the code so that he was placed in classes with mostly female students. He later stated that "it was hard to tear myself away from a machine at which I could so unambiguously demonstrate success."At age 17, Gates formed a venture with Allen, called Traf-O-Data, to make traffic counters based on the Intel 8008 processor.
Gates graduated from Lakeside School in 1973. He scored 1590 out of 1600 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test and subsequently enrolled at Harvard College in the fall of 1973.Prior to the mid 1990s, an SAT score of 1590 was equivalent to an IQ of about 170 (roughly the one in a million level), a figure that would frequently be cited by the press. While at Harvard, he met his future business partner, Steve Ballmer, whom he later appointed as CEO of Microsoft. He also met computer scientist Christos Papadimitriou at Harvard, with whom he collaborated on a paper about pancake sorting.He did not have a definite study plan while a student at Harvard and spent a lot of time using the school's computers. He remained in contact with Paul Allen, joining him at Honeywell during the summer of 1974.The following year saw the release of the MITS Altair 8800 based on the Intel 8080 CPU, and Gates and Allen saw this as the opportunity to start their own computer software company. He had talked this decision over with his parents, who were supportive of him after seeing how much Gates wanted to start a company.
“Every business and household must have a computer and must run Microsoft software”, was the basic guiding vision of Bill Gates. When everyone in the world were not even aware of the software industry’s future here was a man who trusted on his gut feel and passion decided to take the vision the farthest possible way. He was almost there achieving his vision. This clear vision of him won him several laurels and went to be the richest person in the world for 13 continuous long years.
this as their big opportunity. The two knew that the home computer market was about to explode and that someone would need to make software for the new machines. Within a few days, Gates had called MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems), the makers of the Altair. He told the company that he and Allen had developed a BASIC that could be used on the Altair [Teamgates.com, 9/29/96]. This was a lie. They had not even written a line of code. They had neither an Altair nor the chip that ran the computer.The MITS company did not know this and was very interested in seeing their BASIC. So, Gates and Allen began working feverishly on the BASIC they had promised. The code for the program was left mostly up to Bill Gates while Paul Allen began working on a way to simulate the Altair with the schools PDP-10. Eight weeks later, the two felt their program was ready. Allen was to fly to MITS and show off their creation. The day after Allen arrived at MITS, it was time to test their BASIC. Entering the program into the company's Altair was the first time Allen had ever touched one. If the Altair simulation he designed or any of Gates's code was faulty, the demonstration would most likely have ended in failure. This was not the case, and the program worked perfectly the first time [Wallace, 1992, p. 80]. MITS arranged a deal with Gates and Allen to buy the rights to their BASIC.[Teamgates.com, 9/29/96] Gates was convinced that the software market had been born. Within a year, Bill Gates had dropped out of Harvard and Microsoft was formed.
In 1980, IBM approached Microsoft to write the BASIC interpreter for its upcoming personal computer, the IBM PC. When IBM's representatives mentioned that they needed an operating system, Gates referred them to Digital Research (DRI), makers of the widely used CP/M operating system. IBM's discussions with Digital Research went poorly, and they did not reach a licensing agreement. IBM representative Jack Sams mentioned the licensing difficulties during a subsequent meeting with Gates and told him to get an acceptable operating system.
A few weeks later Gates proposed using 86-DOS (QDOS), an operating system similar to CP/M that Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer Products (SCP) had made for hardware similar to the PC. Microsoft made a deal with SCP to become the exclusive licensing agent, and later the full owner, of 86-DOS. After adapting the operating system for the PC, Microsoft delivered it to IBM as PC-DOS in exchange for a one-time fee of $50,000. Gates insisted that IBM let Microsoft keep the copyright on the operating system, because he believed that other hardware vendors would clone IBM's system. They did, and the sales of MS-DOS made Microsoft a major player in the industry. Windows
Gates oversaw Microsoft's company restructuring on June 25, 1981, which re-incorporated the company in Washington and made Gates President of Microsoft and the Chairman of the Board. Microsoft launched its first retail version of Microsoft Windows on November 20, 1985, and in August, the company struck a deal with IBM to develop a separate operating system called OS/2. Although the two companies successfully developed the first version of the new system, mounting creative differences undermined the partnership. Gates distributed an internal memo on May 16, 1991 announcing that the OS/2 partnership was over and Microsoft would shift its efforts to the Windows NT kernel development. Management style:
From Microsoft's founding in 1975 until 2006, Gates had primary responsibility for the company's product strategy. He aggressively broadened the company's range of products, and wherever Microsoft achieved a dominant position he vigorously defended it.
As an executive, Gates met regularly with Microsoft's senior managers and program managers. Firsthand accounts of these meetings describe him as verbally combative, berating managers for perceived holes in their business strategies or proposals that placed the company's long-term interests at risk. He often interrupted presentations with such comments as, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" and, "Why don't you just give up your options and join the Peace Corps?" The target of his outburst then had to defend the proposal in detail until, hopefully, Gates was fully convinced. When subordinates appeared to be procrastinating, he was known to remark sarcastically, "I'll do it over the weekend."
Gates's role at Microsoft for most of its history was primarily a management and executive role. However, he was an active software developer in the early years, particularly on the company's programming language products. He has not officially been on a development team since working on the TRS-80 Model 100 line, but wrote code as late as 1989 that shipped in the company's products. On June 15, 2006, Gates announced that he would transition out of his day-to-day role over the next two years to dedicate more time to philanthropy. He divided his responsibilities between two successors, placing Ray Ozzie in charge of day-to-day management and Craig Mundie in charge of long-term product strategy.
The Growth Of Microsoft:
Revenues: $16,005
1976
Revenues: $22,496
Employees: 7
1977
Revenues: $381,715
Employees: 9
1978
Revenues: $1,355,655
Employees: 13
1979
Revenues: $2,390,145
Employees: 28
1980
Revenues: $7,520,720
Employees: 40
1981
Revenues: $16,000,000
Employees: 128
1982
Revenues: $24,486,000
Employees: 220
1983
Revenues: $50,065,000
Employees: 476
1984
Revenues: $97,479,000
Employees: 608
1985
Revenues: $140,417,000
Employees: 910
1986
Revenues: $197,514,000
Employees: 1,442
1987
Revenues: $345,890,000
Employees: 1,816
1988
Revenues: $590,827,000
Employees: 2,793
1989
Revenues: $804,530,000
Employees: 4,037
1990
Revenues: $1,183,446,000
Employees: 5,635
1991
Revenues: $1,843,432,000
Employees: 8,226
1992
Revenue: $2,758,725,000
Employees: 11,542
1993
Revenue: $3,752,701,000
Employees: 14,430
1994
Revenues: $4,648,981,000
Employees: 15,257
1995
Revenues: $5,940,000,000
Employees: 17,801
1996
Revenues: $8,671,000,000
Employees: 20,561
1997
Revenues: $11,360,000,000
Employees: 22,232
Employees: 27,055
Employees:31,575
2000
Employees:39,170
Employees:48,030
Employees:50,621
Employees:54,468
Employees:57,086
Employees:61,000
Employees:71,172
Employees:78,565
Employees:91,259
27th June, 2008- Amid cheers and tears, Gates says goodbye
Bill Gates wiped the tears from his face, bowed his head to the applause -- and ended an era.
Microsoft's 52-year-old icon worked his final day as a full-time executive Friday, more than three decades after he dropped out of college to found the company with his high school friend. As he prepared to depart, Gates reminisced about Microsoft's successes, and its controversies.
"Even the times that were the toughest, in some ways those are the ones that bond you the most -- when IBM decides to attack you, or when some legal ruling isn't quite right," Gates told employees at an internal event, to laughter. "And you have to do a press conference afterwards."
Later, he concluded: "There won't be a day of my life that I'm not thinking about Microsoft and the great things that it's doing, and wanting to help. So thank you for making it the center of my life, and so much fun."
With those words, Gates marked the end of a career that began in 1975, when he and Paul Allen formed a partnership to make software for early personal computers. As Gates leaves daily life at Microsoft, the company is a global giant with more than 90,000 employees, a dominant position in PC software -- and an uncertain future in an increasingly Internet-centric world.
Speaking to employees, Gates acknowledged Microsoft's struggle to gain ground against Google in the Internet search business, but he also expressed optimism about its chances, based on the work it's doing now.
"Even though it takes years before people see the full effect of that, it's an exciting thing," Gates said. "We have so many opportunities to surprise people."
Microsoft is entering the post-Gates era having failed in its efforts to acquire Yahoo -- a move that was designed to bolster the company against Google.But Gates said he believes he is making the move at a time when the company is strong.
"There's always intense competition. I think the company is stronger today than it's ever been. That's very clear to me. The depth of IQ in this company is phenomenal. Now, we don't always get it to add up. We get a tiny bit of subtraction sometimes and that's one of our challenges."
Gates is leaving Microsoft to focus his attention on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He will remain Microsoft's chairman and work on selected projects there part time. He will also have a third office, separate from Microsoft and the foundation. He said in a recent interview that he plans to fund projects that he finds interesting, but he won't work for any other company.
The transition has been in the works for two years, since Microsoft announced Gates' plan to step down from daily duties.
At the internal event, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, Gates' longtime friend, presented him with a bound scrapbook of photos and mementos. At the same time, Ballmer acknowledged that no mere parting gift could do justice to the moment.
"We've been given an enormous, enormous opportunity," Ballmer said, breaking down into tears. "And Bill gave us that opportunity. I want to thank Bill for that, and I want you to, too."
The crowd of more than 800 employees in the Redmond conference center stood and cheered. Thousands of employees were also watching video of the event online -- the kind of technology that Gates and Allen could have only dreamed about when they were programming BASIC on paper tape for the early Altair personal computer.
Before the event, Ballmer worked the crowd with a big grin, bouncing around and snapping his fingers. Gates waited behind a black curtain, arms crossed and pacing, as Ballmer introduced him. He walked in to a standing ovation, grinning, and introduced his wife, Melinda, and his children in the crowd.
Others in the crowd Friday included Marc McDonald, 52, who attended Seattle's Lakeside School with Gates and became Microsoft's first employee, after Gates and Allen. He left Microsoft but returned in 2000 when it acquired a company where he was working. McDonald is among those pictured in a legendary photo of early Microsoft employees, taken at a shopping mall portrait studio in the late 1970s.
"I never thought I'd be the last full-time person in that picture," McDonald said after the Friday event. "That's the funniest thing. I end up back here, and then Bill leaves before I do."
Given the way Gates is intertwined with the company, McDonald said he was surprised when the transition was announced two years ago: "I hadn't thought it would happen."
Another person in the audience was Ajay Mathew, 27, who has worked at the company for less than a year. He said he took inspiration from Gates' remarks about the challenges the company has overcome. "He has shown that it's worth taking risks, and believing in your dreams," Mathew said. "It's pretty good."
Gates acknowledged that it won't be easy to move on, given how natural it has become for him to work at the company.
Sometimes, when he's driving his children to school, Gates said, "If I forget and start thinking about work a little, I start driving towards Microsoft. They say to me, 'Dad, Dad, what are we going to do at Microsoft?' "
Gates has said he can't envision a scenario under which he would return full time, but he noted Friday that he will be available to the company's next generation of leaders, if they need his advice. "To steal a sentence from Steve," Gates said, "I love this company."
CLOSING REMARKS
Bill Gates' closing remarks to Microsoft employees during his farewell Friday event in Redmond:
"My life's work really is about software and working with incredible people. I love working with smart people. I love working with Steve. I love working with all the incredible people here. Even the times that were the toughest, in some ways those are the ones that bond you the most -- when IBM decides to attack you, or when some legal ruling isn't quite right. And you have to do a press conference afterwards.
"The work here combines two things that I think are just so special. One is the long-term impact -- the impact on the world of what we do -- is incredible. We can always go out and see things that remind us of that. See blind people who, using our accessibility, can browse the Internet. You know, their lives are just totally different because of that. So we can say, wow, this is so impactful.
"But I think the second thing, which is that the day-to-day work is fun and enjoyable, that's actually what's made it so easy to want to work hard, to want to always improve things, to face up to whatever it is that needs to be done better. So it's a special group of people who put so much into it.
"So let me just close by saying you've made it so much for me. There won't be a day of my life that I'm not thinking about Microsoft, and the great things that it's doing, and wanting to help. So thank you for making it the center of my life, and so much fun. Thank you."
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