If ever a man needed no introduction, fifty-nine-year-old Bill Gates is surely that man. From 1995 to 2014, Bill Gates was frequently listed as the richest man in the world, trading places with investment guru Warren Buffett or Mexican communications mogul Carlos Slim from time to time, but topping the chart for most of those twenty years. With a personal fortune estimated at over $81bn, Gates is famous for being rich. Heâs also, of course, famous for being the man who gave the world the Windows operating system, and the Microsoft Office Suite.
Gates was born in Seattle, Washington, and was a top student. After graduating from high school in 1973, he enrolled at Harvard University with no clear plans for his future. Soon, however, his interest in emerging computing technologies would change that. In 1975, Gates and his friend Paul Allen, excited by the launch of personal computing kits that allowed hobbyists to build their own machines, decided to start creating software to run on these new computers. Excited, Gates dropped out of Harvard, and Microsoft, which would come to dominate the personal computing software market around the world, was born.
In 2000, having built up his company and his fortune, Gates stepped down from the day- to-day operations of Microsoft and, with his wife Melinda, with whom he has three children, created the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Foundation has engaged in extensive development and philanthropic work, focusing on health, education, agricultural development, and access to financial services. Much of the Foundationâs work has focused on Africa, where the Foundation is particularly engaged with health issues and food security.
As a prominent businessman and as a major force in the development world, Bill Gates has long been a presence at the World Economic Forumâs annual meetings at Davos.
In conjunction with BrightRock, we have taken to sharing the stories from our recently published World Economic Forum starter pack PDF, âA Veterans Guide to Surviving Davosâ  with you â Follow the link to download the full document.