Bill Gates is born

William Henry "Bill" Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate, philanthropist, and chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen.

He is ranked consistently one of the world's wealthiest people and the wealthiest overall as of 2009.

Gates was born in Seattle, Washington, to William H. Gates, Sr. and Mary Maxwell Gates, of English, German, and Scotch-Irish descent. His family was upper middle class; his father was a prominent lawyer, his mother served on the board of directors for First Interstate BancSystem and the United Way, and her father, J. W. Maxwell, was a national bank president. Gates has one elder sister, Kristi (Kristianne), and one younger sister, Libby. He was the fourth of his name in his family, but was known as William Gates III or "Trey" because his father had dropped his own "III" suffix. Early on in his life, Gates' parents had a law career in mind for him.

William (Bill) H. Gates III is co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft Corporation, the world's leading provider of software for personal computers.

Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955. He and his two sisters grew up in Seattle. Their father, William H. Gates II, is a Seattle attorney. Mary Gates, their late mother, was a schoolteacher, University of Washington regent and chairwoman of United Way International.

William Henry Gates III is born to attorney William Henry Gates II and Mary Gates, a schoolteacher, University of Washington regent and chairwoman of United Way International. He is raised in Seattle.