Bill Gates is an Investor at Echodyne, a radar technology company developing metamaterials-based systems for defense, security, and autonomous machines. Gates co-led Echodyne's $135 million Series C round in 2022 and has participated in every funding round since the company spun out from Intellectual Ventures in 2014.

Gates co-founded Microsoft in 1975 with Paul Allen, revolutionizing personal computing with products like MS-DOS and Windows. He became the world's youngest billionaire in 1987 at age 31 and held the title of world's richest person for 18 out of 24 years between 1995 and 2017.

Gates chairs the Gates Foundation, the world's largest private charitable foundation focused on global health, education, and poverty alleviation. He founded Breakthrough Energy in 2015, which has raised over $2 billion across multiple funds to invest in clean energy and climate technologies.

Gates stepped down as Microsoft CEO in 2000 and transitioned to full-time philanthropy in 2008. He founded the Giving Pledge in 2010 with Warren Buffett, committing to donate at least half of his wealth to charitable causes.

Microsoft became the world's largest personal computer software company under Gates' leadership. The Gates Foundation has donated over $50 billion to global health and development programs, helping to combat diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, and polio worldwide.