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  • Seattle, Washington, U.S.
    Friday Oct 28, 1955

    Birth

    Seattle, Washington, U.S.
    Friday Oct 28, 1955

    Gates was born in Seattle, Washington, on October 28, 1955.




  • Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
    Sep, 1973

    Enrolled in Harverd

    Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
    Sep, 1973

    enrolled at Harvard College in the autumn of 1973.




  • Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
    1975

    Gates dropped out of Harvard

    Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
    1975

    Gates did not have a definite study plan while he was a student at Harvard, and he spent a lot of time using the school's computers. Gates remained in contact with Paul Allen, and he joined him at Honeywell during the summer of 1974. The MITS Altair 8800 was released the following year. The new computer was based on the Intel 8080 CPU, and Gates and Allen saw this as the opportunity to start their own computer software company. Gates dropped out of Harvard at this time.




  • Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.
    Nov, 1975

    A leave of absence

    Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.
    Nov, 1975

    Gates took a leave of absence from Harvard to work with Allen at MITS in Albuquerque in November 1975. Allen named their partnership "Micro-Soft" (a combination of "microcomputer" and "software"), with their first office located in Albuquerque.




  • New Mexico, U.S.
    Friday Nov 26, 1976

    Microsoft was registered

    New Mexico, U.S.
    Friday Nov 26, 1976

    On November 26, 1976, the trade name "Microsoft" was registered with the Office of the Secretary of the State of New Mexico.




  • New Mexico, U.S.
    Friday Nov 26, 1976

    Microsoft was registered

    New Mexico, U.S.
    Friday Nov 26, 1976

    On November 26, 1976, the trade name "Microsoft" was registered with the Office of the Secretary of the State of New Mexico.




  • New Mexico, U.S.
    Tuesday Jul 1, 1980

    IBM approached Microsoft

    New Mexico, U.S.
    Tuesday Jul 1, 1980

    IBM approached Microsoft in July 1980 in reference to an operating system for its upcoming personal computer, the IBM PC. IBM first proposed that Microsoft write the Basic interpreter.


  • Washington, U.S.
    Thursday Jun 25, 1981

    Microsoft's company restructuring

    Washington, U.S.
    Thursday Jun 25, 1981

    Gates oversaw Microsoft's company restructuring on June 25, 1981, which re-incorporated the company in Washington state and made Gates the president of Microsoft and its board chairman.


  • Washington, U.S.
    Thursday Jun 25, 1981

    Microsoft's company restructuring

    Washington, U.S.
    Thursday Jun 25, 1981

    Gates oversaw Microsoft's company restructuring on June 25, 1981, which re-incorporated the company in Washington state and made Gates the president of Microsoft and its board chairman.


  • Washington, U.S.
    Wednesday Nov 20, 1985

    First retail version of Microsoft Windows

    Washington, U.S.
    Wednesday Nov 20, 1985

    Microsoft launched its first retail version of Microsoft Windows on November 20, 1985.


  • Washington, U.S.
    1987

    Forbes List

    Washington, U.S.
    1987

    In 1987, Gates was listed as a billionaire in Forbes magazine's 400 Richest People in America issue. He was worth $1.25 billion and was the world's youngest self-made billionaire. Since 1987, Gates has been included in the Forbes The World's Billionaires list and was the wealthiest from 1995 to 1996, 1998 to 2007, 2009, and has been since 2014. Gates was number one on the Forbes 400 list from 1993 through to 2007, 2009, and 2014 through 2017.


  • Medina, Washington, U.S.
    Saturday Jan 1, 1994

    Marriage

    Medina, Washington, U.S.
    Saturday Jan 1, 1994

    Gates married Melinda French on a golf course on the Hawaiian island of Lanai on January 1, 1994. They have three children. The family resides in Xanadu 2.0, an earth-sheltered mansion in the side of a hill overlooking Lake Washington in Medina, Washington.


  • Washington, U.S.
    Thursday Jun 15, 2006

    More time to philanthropy

    Washington, U.S.
    Thursday Jun 15, 2006

    On June 15, 2006, Gates announced that over the next two years he would transition out of his day-to-day role to dedicate more time to philanthropy. He divided his responsibilities between two successors when he placed Ray Ozzie in charge of day-to-day management and Craig Mundie in charge of long-term product strategy.


  • Washington, U.S.
    Tuesday Feb 4, 2014

    A new Chairman

    Washington, U.S.
    Tuesday Feb 4, 2014

    On February 4, 2014, Gates stepped down as chairman of Microsoft to become Technology Advisor alongside new CEO Satya Nadella.


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