Bill Gates
He shaped the digital age by building a software empire, then redirected his fortune to tackle global health and poverty.
Born 1955 (age 71)·American businessman and philanthropist·Birthday: October 28·Baby Boomers
Biography
Bill Gates didn't just foresee the personal computer revolution; he willed its operating system into existence. Dropping out of Harvard, he and partner Paul Allen founded Microsoft, a company whose MS-DOS and Windows software would become the foundational language for nearly every desktop computer on the planet. His business acumen, often described as fiercely competitive, made him the world's wealthiest person for years. In a dramatic pivot, he stepped back from day-to-day operations at Microsoft to launch, with his then-wife Melinda, the largest private philanthropic foundation in history. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation operates with the same strategic intensity as his software company, but its targets are malaria, polio, and educational inequality. Gates redefined the potential of a tech fortune, arguing that with great wealth comes a responsibility to solve the problems governments cannot.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Bill was born in 1955, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Bill Was Born
The biggest hits of 1955
#1 Movie
Lady and the Tramp
Best Picture
Marty
#1 TV Show
The $64,000 Question
Bill's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1955Born
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $9,550Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Rock Around the Clock" — Bill Haley & His CometsBest Picture: Marty
1960Started school
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1968Became a teenager
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1971Could drive
Voting age lowered to 18 in the US
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $18,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Joy to the World" — Three Dog NightBest Picture: The French Connection
1973Could vote
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1976Turned 21
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1985Turned 30
Live Aid concerts raise money for Ethiopian famine
Gas: $1.12/galHome: $62,900Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Careless Whisper" — Wham!Best Picture: Out of Africa
1995Turned 40
Oklahoma City bombing; Windows 95 released
Gas: $1.15/galHome: $96,500Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Gangsta's Paradise" — CoolioBest Picture: Braveheart
2005Turned 50
Hurricane Katrina devastates New Orleans; YouTube launches
Gas: $2.30/galHome: $167,500Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"We Belong Together" — Mariah CareyBest Picture: Crash
2015Turned 60
Paris climate agreement; same-sex marriage legalized in the US
Gas: $2.43/galHome: $171,900Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Uptown Funk" — Mark Ronson ft. Bruno MarsBest Picture: Spotlight
2025Turned 70
AI agents go mainstream
Gas: $3.10/galHome: $385,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"APT." — Rose & Bruno Mars
2026Age 71 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Co-founded Microsoft Corporation and led it to dominate the personal computer operating system market with MS-DOS and Windows.
- Became the world's youngest self-made billionaire at age 31 in 1987.
- Co-founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the most influential private charitable organizations globally.
Did You Know?
He scored a near-perfect 1590 out of 1600 on his SAT.
His first computer program was a tic-tac-toe game created at age 13.
He purchased the Codex Leicester, a notebook of Leonardo da Vinci's writings, for $30.8 million in 1994.
“We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten.”
