Gates served under the U.S. Army for three years during World War II.[3] After the war, Gates attended the University of Washington under the G.I. Bill,[1] earning a B.A. in 1949 and a J.D. degree in 1950. While at Washington he joined the Chi Psi fraternity. He co-founded Shidler & King in 1964, which later became Preston Gates & Ellis LLP (PGE). He practiced with the firm until 1998, when it was merged into the firm now known as K&L Gates (with which Bill Gates Sr. is not affiliated).
Gates has served as president of both the Seattle/King County Bar Association and the Washington State Bar Association. He has also served on the boards of numerous Northwest organizations, including the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce,[4] King County United Way and Planned Parenthood.[1][5][6] In 1995, he founded the Technology Alliance whose mission is to expand technology-based employment in Washington.[4] In 1998, Gates retired from PGE. He served for fifteen years on the Board of Regents for the University of Washington,[7] and is a co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,[1] which his son Bill and his daughter-in-law Melinda founded. He has served as a director for Costco Wholesale, a bulk retail corporation, since 2003. He is also a founding co-chair of the Pacific Health Summit.[8] Gates is co-author, with Chuck Collins, of the book Wealth and Our Commonwealth: Why America Should Tax Accumulated Fortunes, a defense of the policies promoted by the estate tax.[9][10] William H. Gates Sr. serves as an Honorary Chair for the World Justice Project.[4] The project works to lead a global, multidisciplinary effort to strengthen the Rule of Law for the development of communities of opportunity and equit
Awarded Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, to acknowledge his business and civic success at least 25 years after earning Eagle Scout rank[13][14]
President of Seattle-King County Bar Association, 1969–1970
Bill Gates founded Microsoft in 1976 when he formed a contract with MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems) to develop a basic operating system for their new microcomputers. In the early days, Bill Gates would review every line of code. He was also involved in several aspects of Microsoft’s business such as packing and sending off orders.
The big break for Microsoft came in 1980 when IBM approached them for a new BASIC operating system for its new computers. In the early 1980s, IBM was by far the leading PC manufacturer. However, increasingly, there developed many IBM PC clones; (PCs produced by other companies compatible with IBM’s). Microsoft worked hard to sell its operating system to these other companies. Thus Microsoft was able to gain the dominant position of software manufacture just as the personal computer market started to boom. Since its early dominance, other companies have struggled to displace Microsoft as the dominant provider of computer operating software. Programs like Microsoft Word and Excel have become the industry standard.