Famous Thinkers

Famous Thinkers

One of the world’s greatest and by far, wealthiest thinker is Bill Gates. Bill came from a family that lived and breathed entrepreneurship. His father was an attorney in Seattle, Washington and his mother, Mary Gates, was a schoolteacher, University of Washington regent, and chairwoman of the United Way International.

Bill started showing interest in computer programming at the young age of 13 while a student at Lakeside School. An exclusive preparatory school that his parents sent him to when they thought that he was becoming a “loner”. While at Lakeside, Bill blossomed in nearly every subject. He was particularly great in math and science, but also done well in drama and English. While he was a student there, a Seattle computer company offered to provide computer time for the students. The Mothers Club used its funds from rummage sales to buy a teletype terminal for the students to use. Bill became enthralled with what the computer could do and spent most of his free time working on it. He became so familiar with it that he wrote a tic-tac-toe program in basic computer code that allowed users to play against the computer. When Bill was at Lakeside, he met his friend and business partner Paul Allen. Paul was two years older the Gates but the slight age difference didn’t matter because their common bond was the love of computers. In 1970, when Bill was only 15 years old, he and Paul went into business together. They developed and sold a computer program the called “Traf-o-Data”. It was capable of monitoring traffic patterns within the Seattle area. They netted $20,000 on that first sale. Paul and Bill also wanted to start their own company, but Bills parents wanted him to finish school and go on to college to become a lawyer like his dad. Bill graduated in 1973 from Lakeside. He scored 1590 out of 1600 on the college SAT test, he bragged about his score for several years when he introduced himself to new people.

Bill Gates has many...