In 1975, Bill Gates left Harvard to set up the Microsoft Corp, a computer software firm with his childhood friend Paul Allen. After spending the early years converting existing software packages, their big break came in 1980 when they secured an agreement with IBM to produce the Operating System for use with the personal computer being developed at the time.
The system they developed, MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System), and the following Windows operating systems have made Microsoft incomparably the world’s largest software company.
Allen left the company in 1983 but remained a member on the board of directors until 2000. Extremely wealthy in his own right, he has proved a shrewd investor in hi-tech companies like Starwave, America Online and Ticketmaster.
Meanwhile, Gates developed and built Microsoft through the 1980s and 1990s, along the way gaining a reputation for competitiveness and aggressive business savvy, and building a huge stockpile of personal wealth.
There is no doubt that Gates and his company are significant global players. What Gates says will happen in the world of technology has more than a fair chance of coming to pass.
The chances are that, for some years to come, when Bill speaks, the world will still need to pay attention. His net worth today is in the billions.
Got Any Ideas From This?
The Harvard Crimson called him "Harvard's most successful dropout" — the rest of the world just calls him ridiculously rich.
Bill dropped out because he loves software more than his parents’ dream of him graduating from Harvard.
If you love software, then you probably already know that selling and developing software is one of the most lucrative businesses in the world. Whether selling software to individuals, small business or large companies, the payoff can be massive.
Think about this:
Suppose you came up with a new operating system, similar to Windows, you’d be ridiculously rich too.If you have the general idea but you can't develop it on your own, you can always outsource the task of writing and developing the code, and when it's complete you can start selling the software application with your marketing skills. If you don't have the marketing skills you can outsource that too. All you need these days is the idea!