bill gates

Unit7

BillGates

"WhenIwas19,douttohave

beenright."—BillGates

He'sthemostfamousbusinessmanandtherichestmanintheworld—worthanestimated

$tadoubt,BillGatesbelongsinthesameclassasThomas

Edison,AlexanderGrahamBell,

lf-described"hacker"hasdominatedthepersonalcomputingrevolutionandmodernizedthe

,hisclassificationintoanyotherrankthanthiswould

riouslyunderstatehisimpactontheworld.

Gates'successstemsfromhispersonality:anunbelievableandattimesfrighteningblend

ofhigh-voltagebrilliance,echairmanandCEOwalksthrough

thecorridorsofMicrosoft,itislikeaswitchbeingturnedon;everythingandeveryonearound

himischargedwith10,etstheexampleandMicrosoft

edulehekeepsisonehintastowhatheexpectsfromhis

'snotunusualforthe"dean"ofthe"Microsoftcampus"toputin16-hour

days.

Indeed,ifthere'sonethingthatdistinguishestheGatesstyle,itishistimemanagement

vationoftime,energy,sbetweenplaying

theroleofinternationalspokesmanfortheageoftechnologyandplanningbusinessstrategy

backatheadquarters,gettingthemaximumamountofworkpossibleoutofeveryminute.

Alwayspunctualandalwaysinhighgear,hetypicallyleavesonlythetiniestcracksinthedayfor

eating,earoundMicrosoftisthathisreceptionististhe

,ablyneeds

onejusttoarrangehistravelplansandvisastoforeigncountries.

Onthesubjectoftravel,

businesstrips,hefliescommercialwheneverpossibleandintheinterestoftime,henever

snotime

inhisschedulefortourismofanykind,'sjust

work,work,work.

Anothertraitthatmakeshimsounusualishisincredible"multitasking"esk,he

worksontwocomputers,onewithmultipleframesthatquencedatastreaminginfromthe

Internet,and

mayevenreviewdatawhileconductingameetingusingavideophone.

Gatesrunshiscompanymainlythroughthreemethods:Hebatsoutahundredormoree-mail

messagesaday(andnight);hemeetverymonthorsowithhistopmanagementpanelof

expertsandadvirs;andmostimportantly,heholdstwoorthreesmallreviewmeetingsa

daywithaprocessionofteamsworkingonthecompany'n'taddress

anyonebynameorhandouttoomuchprai,buthedoesgoroundthetableclockwiand

isunclearaboutsomething,hequizzes

andchallengeshisstaff."Educatemeonthat,"hemightsay,lookingtomakeclearavague

n't

needtorelyonpersonalpolitics.

WhenBillGateswasinthesixthgrade,

yearofssionsandtests,thepsychologistreachedhisconclusion."You'regoingtolo,"he

toldGates'motherMary."Youhadbetterjustadjusttoitbecauthere'snoutryingto

beathim."Inthe22yearssincehedroppedoutofHarvardtoconquertheworldof

computeroperatingsystemsandapplicationsoftware,hehasbeendeadlyforcompetitorstrying

toclawtheirwayintothemarket.

Inearly1975,attheageof19,whileatHarvardUniversity,heandPaulAllenwrotean

interpreterfortheprogramminglanguageudbyMITSAltair,thefirstcommerciallyavailable

heirintenrelationship—Gatestheworkaholiccodewriter

andcompetitor,Allenthedreamyvisionary—thatlaidthefirstbrickinthefoundationof

Microsoft.

In1976,GatesbeganlicensingMicrosoft'ssoftwareproductsdirectlytocomputer

manufacturers,whichdramaticallyincreadMicrosoft'ghMITSsoonfolded,

Microsofthadalreadyattractednewcustomersincluding,atthetime,smallhardwarefirmslike

Apple,CommodoreandTandy.

In1980,IBMinvitedMicrosofttowriteariesofprogramminglanguagesforitsnewpersonal

computer,fferedthatMicrosoftcouldalsoproducetheoperatingsystems

(MS-DOS).TheIBMPCandMS-DOSwerebundledtogetherandannouncedtothepublicin

houtthe1980sMicrosoftmovedsteadilyupwardandbythe1990s

MS-DOShadbeenexportedaroundtheworldandhadbecomethedominantsoftwareplatform.

By1995,roughly85percentoftheworld'spersonalcomputerswereusingaMicrosoft

operatingsystem.