Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Bill Gates-The Entrepreneur and his social contribution

As an entrepreneur Bill Gates changed the landscape of business. Guided by the belief that computer is a valuable tool, he has devoted his life to developing software for computers. His company Microsoft where he is chairman and Chief Software Architect, is a leader in the software industry.

In his book http://www.microsoft.com/billgates/speedofthought/, Gates expalins how the Web together with emerging computer hardware, software and communications has changed the way business is done. E-commerce breaks the traditional barriers between manufacturers and consumers, while knowledge management and the tools it provides to operate the business has empowered workers away from a top down hierachy.

Bill Gates is considered the richest man in the world. His riches did not come from real estate or other precious commodities as has been the case of rich people previously. His riches came from the software he produced and from the stocks and shares he owned.

Philantropy has always been important to him. He and his wife has endowned a foundation with more than USD 27 billion to support activities in areas of global health and learning. There are those in the software industry especially those who compete with him who claim his business practices are monopolistic but he has certainly made an undeniable contribution to help and advance mankind.

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