Acting
Oct 27, 1955
Seattle, Washington, USA
Bill Gates
Acting
Biography
William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend Paul Allen. Following Microsoft's initial public offering in 1986 and the subsequent increase in its stock price, Gates became the world's then-youngest billionaire in 1987, at age 31. Forbes magazine ranked him as the world's wealthiest person for 18 out of 24 years between 1995 and 2017, including 13 years consecutively from 1995 to 2007. Gates became the first centibillionaire in 1999, when his net worth briefly surpassed US$100 billion. According to Forbes, as of February 2026, his net worth stood at US$107.7 billion, making him the 18th-wealthiest individual in the world. Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Gates was privately educated at Lakeside School, where he befriended Allen and developed his computing interests. In 1973, he enrolled at Harvard University, where he took classes including Math 55 and graduate-level computer science courses, but he dropped out in 1975 to co-found and lead Microsoft. He served as its CEO for the next 25 years and also became president and chairman of the board when the company was incorporated in 1981. Succeeded as CEO by Steve Ballmer in 2000, he transitioned to chief software architect, a position he held until 2008. He stepped down as chairman of the board in 2014 and became technology adviser to CEO Satya Nadella and other Microsoft leaders, a position he still holds. He resigned from the board in 2020. Over time, Gates reduced his role at Microsoft to focus on his philanthropic work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest private charitable organization, which he and his then-wife, Melinda French Gates, co-chaired from 2000 until 2024. Focusing on areas including health, education, and poverty alleviation, Gates became known for his efforts to combat transmissible diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, and polio. After French Gates resigned as co-chair following the couple's divorce, the foundation was renamed the Gates Foundation, with Gates as its sole chair. Gates is the founder and chairman of several other companies, including BEN, Cascade Investment, TerraPower, Gates Ventures, and Breakthrough Energy. In 2010, he and Warren Buffett founded the Giving Pledge, whereby they and other billionaires pledged to give at least half their wealth to philanthropy. Named as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century by Time magazine in 1999, he has received numerous other honors and accolades, including a Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded jointly to him and French Gates in 2016 for their philanthropic work. The subject of several documentary films, he published the first of three planned memoirs, Source Code: My Beginnings, in 2025. Description above from the Wikipedia article Bill Gates, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Feature Films (37)
On the occasion of the 40th birthday of the almighty filmmaker Steven Allan Spielberg, inquisitive reporter Clip Maxwell attempts to uncover the truth behind his undisputed rise to the throne of the Amblin Empire.
Citizen Steve
For so long anyone who dared suggest COVID-19 began in a Wuhan lab was dismissed, criticised and mocked. Now the US Energy Department and FBI have conceded a lab leak most likely caused the pandemic. Sky News Digital Originals presents this report from Host Rita Panahi.
Lab Leak Liars: How China and Authorities Deceived Us
It happened more or less by accident; the people who made it happen were amateurs; and for the most part they still are. From his own Silicon Valley garage, author Bob Cringley puts PC bigshots and nerds on the spot, and tells their incredible true stories. Like the industry itself, the series is informative, funny and brash.
The Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires
Monopoly – Who Owns The World is an independent documentary produced by Tim Geilen. The film shows the institutional investment firms that sit at the top of the complex and opaque corporate pyramid structure. Monopoly shines a much-needed light on these corporations, the people behind them, and their rapacious behavior.
Monopoly: Who Owns the World?
Der Film portraitiert eine Gruppe von Microsoft-Aussteigern: im Ruhestand mit 32, Multimillionäre und ohne die geringste Idee, was sie mit dem Rest ihres Leben anstellen sollen. Ihre Jahre im Unternehmen, der Hype des Goldrausches und das Adrenalin des Erfolges hat sie ausgebrannt und doch sind sie entschlossen mehr aus ihrem Leben zu machen - vor allem Sinn und Bedeutung in der wirklichen Welt zu finden.
Leben nach Microsoft
Television & Series (40)
America's popular television News magazine in which an ever changing team of CBS News correspondents contribute segments ranging from hard news coverage to politics to lifestyle and pop culture.
60 Minutes
Follow tech guru Marques Brownlee as he uncovers how iconic technology of the past came to life and shaped history. In each episode, Marques meets with fellow YouTube creators, experts, and celebrity guests, to explore the impact each piece of vintage tech has had on our culture and why these pieces remain so revolutionary.
Retro Tech
The World's Fakest News Team tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and pop culture.
The Daily Show
Joko Winterscheidt takes on one of humanity's biggest challenges: the climate crisis. Joko reaches his limits on this journey, driven to despair by the state of the world. But he also meets people who are fighting for a better, more sustainable world and who give Joko hope.
