Bill Gates, an influential American businessman, and philanthropist was born on October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington. Briefly, his early life and schooling consisted of:
His early life
Bill Gates came from a family that placed a premium on education and supported his efforts to pursue his passions. William H. Gates Sr. was an attorney, and Mary Maxwell Gates was active in the nonprofit sector.
Family
Gates’ early interest in computers and programming revealed a natural talent for technology. William H. Gates Jr. is the offspring of Mary Maxwell Gates (1929-94), who married William H. Gates Sr. The English, the Germans, and the Irish/Scots-Irish all appear in his family tree. His mother was a director at First Interstate BancSystem and his father was a well-known lawyer in the country. Gates’s great-grandfather was J. W. Maxwell, president of a large bank. Gates has two sisters: Kristi (Kristianne) is his older sister and Libby is his younger sister. Although he is the fourth William Gates in his family, his father added the “II” suffix, therefore his son is commonly referred to as “Trey” (which means “three”). When he was seven years old, his family’s home in Seattle’s Sand Point neighborhood was severely damaged by a rare tornado. He realized early on in life that his parents hoped he would go into law. His family was active in the Protestant Reformed Congregational Christian Churches when he was a child. He was teased because he was short for his age. One guest noted that “there was always a reward for winning and there was always a penalty for losing”. Whether playing hearts, pickleball, or swimming to the pier. At Lakeside School in 1970, Gates (right) and Paul Allen sat at Teletype Model 33 ASR terminals.
His education
At the age of thirteen, he joined the exclusive Lakeside prep school, where he developed his first computer program. The Mothers’ Club at his middle school utilized funds from a garage sale to purchase a Teletype Model 33 ASR terminal. Also, they purchased a block of time on a General Electric (GE) computer when he was in eighth grade. He was exempt from math lessons so that he could pursue his passion for programming the GE system in BASIC. He used this computer to create his first application, an interactive version of tic-tac-toe that users could play against the machine. The machine’s ability to flawlessly execute software code attracted Gates. When he and his fellow students used up the Mothers Club’s funding, they looked into renting time on other systems, such as DEC PDP minicomputers. They were detected by Computer Center Corporation (CCC) abusing flaws in the operating system to acquire free computer time. Gates, Paul Allen, Ric Weiland, and Gates’ best friend and first business partner Kent Evans were barred from using CCC’s PDP-10 for the summer. He had his formal education at Seattle’s exclusive Lakeside School, where he first developed an interest in computer programming. Throughout his time in high school, Gates dedicated himself to computers and programming, gaining him a reputation as a gifted coder.
Harvard University
He attended Harvard University to pursue a pre-law degree after graduating from Lakeside School in 1973. But he immediately developed an affinity for computing and found himself spending increasing amounts of time in the library’s computer lab. After graduating from Harvard in 1975, he and his childhood friend Paul Allen established a software company. Gates’ early life was defined by his curiosity about new technologies, and he followed his interest in computer programming from an early age. He was able to establish a successful career in technology thanks to the foundation he received at a private school and Harvard University.
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