Posted on 09/27/2005 9:00:00 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
Bill Gates Donates $40 Million To High School
September 27, 2005 10:05 p.m. EST
Christina Ficara - All Headline News Staff Reporter
Seattle, Washington (AHN) - Bill Gates announces his decision to give back to the school responsible for his bank-breaking success in the computer business. Lakeside School in Seattle is receiving $40 million the Microsoft founder who left the school in 1973.
The money is intended to fund scholarships to help underprivileged children attend the private school.
Gates says, "I can say without Lakeside there would be no Microsoft, and I'm here to say thank you."
A timetable system for the school was among his first commercial software programs.
Maia Mulligan, spokeswoman for the Seattle school, says, "It's an incredibly generous gift - and also idealistic, giving access to the school to children from all across the city."
The Lakeside School donation is made through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In its first five years, the foundation has given almost $2.4 billion in donations to education - including $1.2 billion in scholarships.
As well as supporting scholarships, the funding will pay for a project in which pupils from the school spend time in developing countries.
A pity. IMHO MS has been much more of a hindrance than a help in the development of software and the Internet. They have effectively stomped the competition down and only recently has their monopolistic grip been opposed effectively.
Wasn't Gates a drop-out?
College drop out.
William H. Gates
Chairman and Chief Software Architect
Microsoft Corporation
William (Bill) H. Gates is chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft Corporation, the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. Microsoft had revenues of US$36.84 billion for the fiscal year ending June 2004, and employs more than 55,000 people in 85 countries and regions.
Born on Oct. 28, 1955, Gates grew up in Seattle with his two sisters. Their father, William H. Gates II, is a Seattle attorney. Their late mother, Mary Gates, was a schoolteacher, University of Washington regent, and chairwoman of United Way International.
Gates attended public elementary school and the private Lakeside School. There, he discovered his interest in software and began programming computers at age 13.
In 1973, Gates entered Harvard University as a freshman, where he lived down the hall from Steve Ballmer, now Microsoft's chief executive officer. While at Harvard, Gates developed a version of the programming language BASIC for the first microcomputer - the MITS Altair.
Top row: Steve Wood (left), Bob Wallace, Jim Lane. Middle row: Bob O'Rear, Bob Greenberg, Marc McDonald, Gordon Letwin. Bottom row: Bill Gates, Andrea Lewis, Marla Wood, Paul Allen. December 7, 1978.
In his junior year, Gates left Harvard to devote his energies to Microsoft, a company he had begun in 1975 with his childhood friend Paul Allen. Guided by a belief that the computer would be a valuable tool on every office desktop and in every home, they began developing software for personal computers. Gates' foresight and his vision for personal computing have been central to the success of Microsoft and the software industry.
Under Gates' leadership, Microsoft's mission has been to continually advance and improve software technology, and to make it easier, more cost-effective and more enjoyable for people to use computers. The company is committed to a long-term view, reflected in its investment of approximately $6.2 billion on research and development in the 2005 fiscal year.
In 1999, Gates wrote Business @ the Speed of Thought, a book that shows how computer technology can solve business problems in fundamentally new ways. The book was published in 25 languages and is available in more than 60 countries. Business @ the Speed of Thought has received wide critical acclaim, and was listed on the best-seller lists of the New York Times, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and Amazon.com. Gates' previous book, The Road Ahead, published in 1995, held the No. 1 spot on the New York Times' bestseller list for seven weeks.
Gates has donated the proceeds of both books to non-profit organizations that support the use of technology in education and skills development.
In addition to his love of computers and software, Gates founded Corbis, which is developing one of the world's largest resources of visual information - a comprehensive digital archive of art and photography from public and private collections around the globe. He is also a member of the board of directors of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which invests in companies engaged in diverse business activities.
Philanthropy is also important to Gates. He and his wife, Melinda, have endowed a foundation with more than $27 billion (as of March 2004) to support philanthropic initiatives in the areas of global health and learning, with the hope that in the 21st century, advances in these critical areas will be available for all people. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has committed more than $3.2 billion to organizations working in global health; more than $2 billion to improve learning opportunities, including the Gates Library Initiative to bring computers, Internet Access and training to public libraries in low-income communities in the United States and Canada; more than $477 million to community projects in the Pacific Northwest; and more than $488 million to special projects and annual giving campaigns.
Gates was married on Jan. 1, 1994, to Melinda French Gates. They have three children. Gates is an avid reader, and enjoys playing golf and bridge.
Last updated February 2005
Thanks.
The school system will surely come out and say that $40 million still is not enough to get students to past the WASL.
Damn capitalism!
What a waste of perfectly good money.
Lakeside is a pretty sweet school.
Bill Gates at Lakeside....and yes, everyone at that school passes the WASL.
But Microsoft is eeeeeeeeviiiiiiillllllll! Too bad it couldn't go to a homeschooler fund though.
I think its a good donation. It's a shame the government prevents people from spending their own tax money on private schools.
I wish gates would get more politically active and focus on teh corruption and criminals that run developing corruption. I hope that much of his charity doesn't go into wrong hands and support tyranny...
One of the reasons I like Soro's charities.. focus on free media and freedom, responsive government, its just a shame hes socialsit...
You should know that he is a supporter of abortion and the UN.
" Gates’ philanthropy goes mainly for United Nations initiatives.
In 2000, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded a $57 million grant to the United Nations Population (UNFPA) Fund. While the grant was ostensibly to fight AIDS among African youth, UNFPA also used some of the funds for its reproductive health-abortion agenda."
lol.. That he is:
He and we have come a long way.
----
I remember:
5 and 10 MB hard drives
Windows 1.0
11 and 8 inch floppies
CP-M
FoRtran
punch cards
core memory
bubble logic
paper tape readers
assembly language
In this state you can get a tax credit for donations to public schools, or for scholarships at private schools.
Aw, now I understand. A private school. No wonder it ranks high in educational standards.
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