Time’s 100 +1 Most Influential People
2014 was a year of big events, from record breaking events in the Sochi Winter Olympics to the Ebola virus outbreak, 2014 had its ups and downs. Surrounded by these groundbreaking events, Time Magazine compiled the 100 most influential people of the year. Although Time did an impeccable job of composing this list, one man was left off. This man funded the prevention of around 13.6 million deaths, was owner of a foundation that funded over 3.6 billion in scholarships, and donated billions to over 25 charitable foundations. This man, co-founder of Microsoft Windows, and one of the richest men in the world, William Henry “Bill” Gates definitely influenced the world greatly in 2014.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest private foundation in the world, and the charitable contribution it made towards medical improvement is nothing less important. Throughout the years, Gates has endowed over 42 billion towards his foundation, and much of it went towards medical research. In 2014, Gates made it his goal to combat Neglected Tropical Diseases, such as AIDS, HIV, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. In addition, Gates partnered with organizations such as the World Health Organization, Children 's Investment Fund Foundation, and the World Bank, to donate around 120 million dollars to this cause (Boseley 1). Gates wrote about the impact of these donations in his end of the year editorial, “Good News You Might Have Missed in 2014.” The first issue he combatted was the spreading of the Rotavirus. This diarrheal disease kills about 80,000 people per country, in poor countries such as India and Thailand. Gates comments that some of these viruses “don’t get much press because it’s almost never deadly in r...
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...king him a model, so that all may follow in the qualities he demonstrates, and further society’s development as a whole.
In conclusion, Bill Gates achieved monumental strides in 2014, yet he aspires to achieve even bigger goals. In his 2014 editorial he states,” This year, we’re looking ahead to 2030. We’ll be writing about a few areas—from health to farming and banking—where life will really change. (Gates 1)” He then goes on to say that he is not done with pushing for change in poverty struck places around the world, and hints that great things are in store for humanity. Even though Gates has already accomplished incredible tasks it is his unwillingness to rest and optimistic outlook that puts him in a league of his own. Bill Gates not only deserves to have a spot on the Times most influential people of 2014, but perhaps in the most influential people of all time!
After having helped found what would be the world’s most popular and largest software company in 1975, Bill Gates officially found himself to be the richest man alive at the ripe, young age of only thirty-one. Gates had never imagined that the thirteen year old boy who loved to program computers in his parent’s garage would one day find himself to be considered the world’s wealthiest man alive, having a total net worth of $76 billion. Having began on his own, tinkering with computers and computer software, Gates later created the seed of Microsoft, or what was originally called Traf-O-Data in the summer of 1972. (Fast Facts) It wasn’t until two years later, with the help of his co-founder, Paul Allen that Microsoft was born, transforming the technological world in ways that the people had never seen. The birth of Microsoft changed the ways of old computers, making way for faster newer and more innovative technology, along with bringing on a strong competition with their rival company, Apple Inc. With this grand cooperation, Bill Gates was also accumulating a large mass of money, gradually finding himself to top the charts of the Forbes World Billionaires List. (Fast Facts) Despite being well known for his contributions to Microsoft, Bill Gates’ most profound impact on the American culture was in medical and educational advances provided by The Gates foundation, paralleled by his philanthropic views and aid in the lives of the both poor and wealthy.
(Singer, 2006) Gates believes that equal value of all human life is particularly prominent. Singer also gives credit to billionaire investor Warren Buffett because he showed to be a compassionate person when he contributed $31 billion to Bill Gates foundation, and another $6 billion to other charitable foundations. Buffett donations went to reduce poverty, disease, and premature death. In July, 2015 Warren Buffett donated a personal philanthropy record of $2.8 billion to five foundation as a part of his annual pledge. (Chew, 2015) Gates and Buffett should be honored for their generosity for giving billions to the developing world to fight global
Gates’s idea regarding philanthropy due to the fact that upon setting up his foundation in 2000, he already was aware of the widespread criticism of existing programs to help the less fortunate. Moreover, successful programs, such as the Green Revolution, were overshadowed by growing awareness of their negative side effects on the environment and local cultures. Mr. Gates had growing awareness of such limits sparking new ideas on how businesses could approach poor countries. However, there is little evidence of benefit from the $2.3 trillion given in foreign aid over the past five decades. For example, all the aid given to Africa over the years has failed to stimulate economic growth on the continent. One might argue that there are just as many needy individuals in America, why not try to critically think of way to innovate to embody the struggling Americans, rather than poor countries around the
When most people hear about Bill Gates the first thing that comes to mind is the obscene amount of money he has made through out his career. Owning many different foundations, the most common foundation known to most college students is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that provide many different scholarships. However, this foundation also does various things to give back to communities and aiding suffering countries. Within this foundation there are also various branches such as the United States Program, The Global Development Program and the Global health program that have grown over time making the Gates a commonly used household name.
So, what about the future? Huxley has shown what his future looks like, but many other minds have shown their predicted futures as well. One such mind is the one that truly helped technology, and computing as a whole, get to where it is today. In a recent interview with theverge.com’s Nilay Patel, Bill Gates had mentioned his stance on many issues currently being debated by the United Nations. Numerous topics were discussed, including the futures of health, farming, money, and technology.
Becoming the richest man in the world, Bill Gates is one of the most influential men. Not only is Bill Gates one of the most influential figures in the world, but he is also one of the most influential figures in the business world. Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington. Gates was born into already well established family. “His father, William Henry Gates Jr., was a successful lawyer, and his mother, Mary Maxwell, was chairwoman of United Way International.”(Stevenson).
Microsoft is a computing software company. Microsoft was made and founded on April 4th 1975 by two young men who were captivated by computers. Their names were Bill Gates and Paul Allen. The homebase was in Redmond, Washington. Microsoft became one of the most famous and successful companies in the world. “Microsoft was one of the pioneers responsible for bringing the personal computer into the lives of millions of people.” (Musolf). The company has had such a great impact that now the name “Microsoft” is now virtually synonymous with computer software.
Bill Gates is now helping people in developing countries get water and an education full time. He created what is called the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. “In 2008 he left the company to devote himself full-time to his charity the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation”(Harris 1). He has worked his whole life to get the success and money that he has today and instead of keeping it to himself he has given it back to society in many generous ways. He also is helping developing countries with their needs that aren't accessible to them. “They helped vaccinate African and Asian children against diseases like polio and malaria. And they have been very successful in helping get rid of these diseases for good.”(Harris 1). This foundation helped poorer countries get the medical help they need to get rid of illnesses that should have already been gone by now. Bill and his wife had had an impact on the world by doing these things
Bill Gates Through his intelligence and excellent business skills, Bill Gates was able to change the world. As a technological genius, he founded the world's largest software company. He has also been extremely generous, donating more than $30 billion as a philanthropist. He is, without a doubt, a catalyst for change, tirelessly working to make the world a better place.
On October 28, 1955 William H. Gates III (nicknamed "trey") was born in Seattle. His father was a lawyer (William H. Gates II) and his mother was a schoolteacher. He also had two older sisters who were in high school when Bill was born. Bill attended a public elementary school before he moved to a private school in North Seattle named Lakeside. Lakeside's strong academics enabled Bill to actively get involved with computers (which were the love of his life next to baseball) and use his superior intellect. This was the beginning of a long and successful career in computers. Bill combined his intellect and visions of technology along with his active participation in may charities to make our world a better place.
The global leader I have selected has so many qualities that words are not enough to describe his success and his effect in the way we live and see life. His name is William Henry Gate III or as we all know him as Bill Gates. William Henry Gate III was born in Seattle on 1955 and was raised in a wealthy family. His father was a successful attorney and his mother was a top executive at a national bank. This upbringing gave him the opportunity to study in the most prestige school on his state where he discovered his love for computers.
Upon applying the impressive creativity and aptitude of his mind in cooperatively crafting his product, on this day, he released the first prototype of a software idea that, being one of the firsts of its kind, would take years to become the most powerful, most popular social media site in the world today, with an economic success so great that, through advertising revenue, has compelled its creator into Forbes Magazine’s 5th richest person in the world ranking in 2017. However, throughout those years of accumulating this great wealth and success, today’s recipient of the Global Humanitarian Award has proved to have not lost sight of the accent importance of preserving the world’s humanity and has proved to not only effectively invest himself into protecting the personal success of his own life, but also into that of the social and humane environment of the world itself. Honoring his own fruitful educational roots, this man’s education-related philanthropic history is quite magnanimous, him having donated over a quarter billion dollars to educational improvements, over the past 7 years, and devoting much of his attention to personalized learning. In terms of the bio-health sphere of society, he has donated a similar amount to needy hospitals and, during the great Ebola epidemic, to initiatives designed to combat the diseases’ propagation. Lastly, embracing his own proven technological talents and believing that: quote “We believe engineers can help turbocharge and scale solutions to facilitate social change”, he has established an organization, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, intended to, in the organization’s own words “design, build and scale software systems to help educators and scientists already working on humanity’s greatest challenges”. Today, among other accomplishments, this initiative is
...as his acceptance of his life of poverty and service that serves as an example for us to use as a model for our actions in this world.
So here I present you the path that gave us the Bill Gates we have today. Firstly, Bill Gates was fortunate enough to be born in a fine and educated family, where his parents were an educator and a lawyer. He had the privilege to all the essential necessities, such as clothing, food, and water sources which many other kids do not have. More than that, his family was wealthy enough to buy him toys and games and other things which would be far too extravagant to others. These small things created a stronger foundation for Bill Gates’
Gates has also given over half of his life earnings to charity and other public minded organisations. This has helped him achieve not only the status of one of the world's greatest entrepreneurs, but also a man who ultimately cares about the future of society, which is reflected in new product developments and technologies, all of which are designed to make our lives simpler.