Bill Gates named to Berkshire Hathaway board
85624
The world&#39;s wealthiest man has joined the board of an investment company owned by the world&#39;s second wealthiest. The board of billionaire Warren Buffett&#39;s Berkshire Hathaway voted Tuesday to elect Microsoft Corp.
4485
(InfoWorld) - Bill Gates returned to Harvard University on Thursday to address its graduating class and receive an honorary degree after dropping out of the college 33 years ago to found Microsoft. He spent much of his address on the issues of global poverty and disease, advancing ideas on how to encourage more people to get involved in trying to resolve those huge problems. "I've been waiting more than 30 years to say this: 'Dad, I always told you I'd come back and get my degree,'" the Microsoft chairmanÂ said to hearty audience laughter as he began his speech. All commencement speakers are given an honorary Harvard degree, and Gates was awarded a Doctor of Laws degree. He's already received a handful of honorary doctorates from other universities around the world, the most recent being awarded by China's Tsinghua University in April. When Gates arrived at Harvard as a freshman in 1973, he was uncertain of his course of study but sure of his abiding passion for software. He quit Harvard in his junior year to focus full-time on the software startup, Microsoft, which he cofounded with his childhood pal Paul Allen. Gates described how he encouraged Harvard buddy Steve Ballmer, now Microsoft CEO, to quit business school and join the software company when it was only about 50 employees strong. "I'm a bad influence," Gates said. "That's why I was invited to speak to your graduation. If I had spoken at your orientation, fewer of you might be here today." He also reminisced about his accommodation at Harvard, saying his particular lodgings were a great place to live. "There were more women up there, and most of the guys were science-math types," Gates said, with a smile. "That combination offered me the best odds, if you know what I mean. This is where I learned the sad lesson that improving your odds doesn't guarantee success." However, Gates was all seriousness and a fair amount of fervor during most of his 25-minute address, expressing his one big regret about his time at college. "I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world," adding it took him "decades to find out" about the unbelievable poverty and disease in developing countries. He's currently transitioning out of a day-to-day role at Microsoft to spend more time on his global philanthropy work in the areas of health and education at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He began that move in June 2006, and it's expected to be complete by July 2008. "Humanity's greatest advances are not in its discoveries -- but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity," Gates said. He spoke of trying to find ways to develop "a more creative capitalism" that could help market forces work better for the disadvantaged. "If you believe that every life has equal value, it's revolting to learn that some lives are seen as worth saving and others are not," he added. He described his frustration at being on a global health panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, several years ago and being bored rigid. "It was so boring even I couldn't bear it," Gates quipped. The contrast between that panel and a Microsoft launch event he'd just attended were starkÂ -- people were really excited about version 13 of a new piece of software. "I love getting people excited about software," he said. "But why can't we generate even more excitement for saving lives?" The issue isn't that people don't care about the world's ills, Gates argued, it's that they don't know what to do to resolve them. "Even with the advent of the Internet and 24-hour news, it is still a complex enterprise to get people to truly see the problem," he said. Using computers, the Internet, and breakthroughs in biotechnology, Gates believes that people can begin to cut through the complex problems of poverty and disease and start to improve lives. Gates challenged both Harvard University and its graduating students. For Harvard, he encouraged the academics to think about applying more of their resources to dealing with the world's issues and to ensure that their students left the college educated about global poverty, hunger, and the prevalence of curable diseases that continue to kill millions of children. For students, he exhorted each of them to embrace one of the world's complex issues and become a specialist on it, whether that issue becomes the focus of their career or more of a part-time passion. "Don't let complexity stop you. Be activists," Gates said. "Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great experiences of your lives."
211691
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates speaks Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2004 at Microsoft Corp.&#39;s annual shareholders meeting in Bellevue, Wash.
102282
Making the world safe from Linux? Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) Chairman Bill Gates is in Paris this morning, signing an agreement with UNESCO to boost computer literacy in developing countries.
192775
Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, still remains the richest person in the USA, according to Forbes Magazine. Gates has been keeping the first place for already 11 year in a raw among the richest Americans.
61584
Microsoft founder Bill Gates is the richest person in America for the 14th year in a row, followed by investor Warren Buffett, according to Forbes magazine's latest list of the wealthiest Americans.
281281
Bill Gates still No.1 after giving away $28 billion; Google founders make the list on company IPO. NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Bill Gates can now breathe a sigh of relief.
89628
Microsoft Chair Bill Gates has contributed $400,000 to the campaign to support a California initiative that would provide the state with nearly $3 billion in funding for human embryonic stem cell research, the AP/San Jose Mercury News reports (Elias, AP
751209
Stephen Richards, CFO of security software maker McAfee, joins the board
305113
LAS VEGAS - For the last time as Microsoft's chairman, Bill Gates delivered the opening speech at the Consumer Electronics Show. Microsoft made several announcements, including a partnership with NBC naming MSN as the exclusive online partner for the Beijing Olympics. Sports fans will be able to watch more than 3,000 hours of live and on-demand content over the Web.
372588
Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the holding company run by billionaire Warren Buffett, on Thursday said its General Re insurance unit received a request from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to provide information on some insurance products.
260689
Microsoft founder Bill Gates is still the richest man in America, topping the Forbes rich list for the eleventh year.
153420
BERKELEY, Calif.  - The United States has nothing  to fear from rapidly growing technology markets in China and  India, Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect of  Microsoft Corp. MSFT.O said on Friday.
585352
Bill Gates is about to announce a new step in Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) home-entertainment strategy.
446371
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Berkshire Hathaway vice-chairman Charles Munger and his wife Nancy Munger on Thursday donated $43.5 million to Stanford University and its law school.
535370
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc  has won expedited licensing for a new bond insurance unit, New York State Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo said on Friday.
218696
Technology executives dominated the top 10 of Forbes magazine's list of 400 richest Americans this year with Microsoft Co-Founder and Chairman Bill Gates retaining his place at the top of the annual list for the 14th time. According to Forbes, Gates is worth $59 billion.