Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955. He grew up in Seattle, Washington. Bill Gates was named William Henry after his father and grandfather. He was a very clever boy. His favourite subjects at school were science and maths. When people asked him what he wanted to be in the future, he always said, "A scientist."
When he was 13 years old, Bill started to play with computers. At that time, computers were very large machines. Once he was interested in a very old computer. He and some of his friends spent lots of time doing unusual things with it. In the end, they worked out a software programme with the old machine. Bill sold it for 4, 200 dollars when he was only 17.
In 1973, Bill went to Harvard University. At Harvard, he developed the BASIC language for the first microcomputer. In his third year, he left Harvard to work for a company called Microsoft. Bill began this company in 1975 with his friend Paul Allen. They thought that the computers are difficult to use. They improved the software to make it easier for people to use. In 1999, Bill wrote a book called Business at the Speed of Thought. In the book he told people how computer technology could solve business problems in new ways. It was one of the best sellers of the New York Times list.
Bill married Melinda French on January 1, 1994. They have two children—a daughter and a son. Bill enjoys reading very much. He also enjoys playing golf and bridge (桥牌) .