- Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft and developed the world's leading operating system, Microsoft Windows. He stepped down as CEO in 2000 but remains chairman of Microsoft. - Throughout his career, Gates pursued technological innovation and business success aggressively. He is now dedicating more time to philanthropy through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which focuses on global health and development issues. - Gates had a privileged early life and showed an early aptitude for computers and programming. He dropped out of Harvard to start Microsoft, which grew into the largest software company in the world.