The story of how Bill Gates became a millionaire

Bill Gates is an American businessman, computer scientist and philanthropist who founded and created the Microsoft company and the Windows computer operating system, respectively, together with Paul Allen. Currently, he has a fortune of 96.5 million dollars that places him as one of the richest men on the planet.

MORE INFORMATION: Bill and Melinda to lead the Gates Foundation after their divorce

Although he is known for the technological innovation he offered the world, few know that this man dropped out of college to become a millionaire. Here’s how he managed to achieve his dreams and become one of the most successful men.

WHEN YOUNG I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT I WANTED

When Bill Gates was 19 years old, he was not clear about what he wanted in life. Although he had entered Harvard University for a law degree, the following year he decided to leave his studiesas well as his work at a large Canadian hydroelectric company.

After that, he got carried away by his work addiction and into what he was most passionate about, he founded one of the most important technology companies in history: Microsoft Thanks to his great intelligence and having by his side a friend who loves mathematics and who liked to impose very hard days on employees.

Although many in his position had sought to get richer and richer, he was obsessed the first few years with getting enough money to allow him to pay the payroll if in case he was left without an important contract. “I wanted to have enough money in the bank so that if nobody paid us in a year, I could assume the salaries”, said according to a publication of El Mundo.

Despite this concern, that does not mean that he was a cold and calculating person, and therefore a very tough boss, because sometimes when the delegated work was going to take more than a week, he used to tell his employees: “I can do it in one day, why don’t you work as much as I do?”.

AN UNCONDITIONAL FRIEND

Bill Gates would not have achieved all this if by his side he had not had his unconditional friend Paul Allen, who was his ally and co-founder of Microsoft With whom she shared many things at work, but also outside of her at the beginning. “Paul always wanted me to get drunk. “, he told on one occasion.

But they were both too workaholic, and their passion for computing was at the forefront, something they wanted their workers to do as well, but at demanding rates. “He didn’t believe in weekends, he didn’t believe in vacations. For many people, it was not a good place to work. We were frantic and very demanding “Gates pointed out.

However, years later, their goals changed, at least for Allen, who in 1981 went to see the launch of NASA’s first space shuttle without telling Gates that he was dedicated to finishing the code that IBM had entrusted to them. which was the MS-DOS program, which brought Microsoft to the top. In 1983, Allen resigned from his position after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease., which he managed to overcome, and although he tried to relate to his friend again, things were not the same again. He even accused Gates of trying to put him out of business.

IS DEDICATED TO PHILANTHROPY

Although during his early days and in his work he was very harsh and criticized for the way he treated his employees and those around him, he has dedicated himself to helping the world with the millions in his account. In 2009, Gates and Warren Buffett founded The Giving Pledge, by which they and other billionaires pledge to donate at least half of their wealth to philanthropy.

Likewise, through its Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, it is dedicated to rebalancing opportunities in health and education at the local level, although it has also participated in other countries. Thus we have that in Nigeria it implemented its program to eradicate polio, which is why they have been awarded the 2006 Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation.