Posted by By UCHE USIM on
World's richest man and Chairman of Microsoft Corporation, Bill Gates, arrived the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, yesterday aboard a private jet marked N887WM. The Falcon private aircraft touched down at exactly 8.55pm He was accompanied by his wife Melinda.
World's richest man and Chairman of Microsoft Corporation, Bill Gates, arrived the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, yesterday aboard a private jet marked N887WM. The Falcon private aircraft touched down at exactly 8.55pm
He was accompanied by his wife Melinda.
According to one of his private security assistants, the software wizard is in Nigeria 'to see Mr. President."
The Gates who were spotting grey suits left the airport almost immediately in a convoy of six vehicles including two Hummer Jeeps.
They were escorted by a team of Mobile policemen said to have been drafted from Dodan Barracks.
Immediate on Mr. Gate's itinerary, Sunday Sun learnt, was to see President Olusegun Obasanjo at his Ota Farm residence before jetting out to Abuja.
As chairman of Microsoft Corporation, the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions, Gates has helped people and businesses realize their full potential. Microsoft had revenues of US$39.79 billion for the fiscal year ending June 2005, and employs more than 61,000 people in 102 countries and regions.
On June 15, 2006, Microsoft announced that effective July 2008 Gates will transition out of a day-to-day role in the company to spend more time on his global health and education work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. After July 2008 Gates will continue to serve as Microsoft's chairman and an advisor on key development projects. The two-year transition process is to ensure that there is a smooth and orderly transfer of Gates' daily responsibilities. Effective June 2006, Ray Ozzie has assumed Gates' previous title as chief software architect and is working side by side with Gates on all technical architecture and product oversight responsibilities at Microsoft. Craig Mundie has assumed the new title of chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft and is working closely with Gates to assume his responsibility for the company's research and incubation efforts.
Born on October 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.
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.