Gates

No items found.

by Stephen Manes

This book was rated "outstanding" and "meticulously researched" by the Washington Post, and it had "much of the drama and suspense of a novel." It was deemed "definitive" by the New York Times and USA Today. Gates "should be essential reading for each new recruit in the personal computer sector," according to the Seattle Times. Hundreds of publications and articles have mentioned and used Gates as a source since his book was published.

Bill Gates is an American legend, the ultimate nerd's vengeance. For many years, the most influential individual in the computer business was the youngest self-made millionaire in history. His temper outbursts, weird rocking tic, and extravagant charity have all become legends. The only book that fully reveals the early years of the man and his company is Gates.

He developed computer businesses for profit in high school. He co-wrote Microsoft BASIC, the first commercially available personal computer program, while at Harvard, and then dropped out to make it a global standard. At the age of 25, he sold IBM a program he didn't yet own: DOS, which would go on to become the standard operating system for over 100 million computers and the cornerstone of the Gates empire. Bill Gates became admired, despised, and feared as Microsoft's supremacy grew throughout the world.

In this gripping independent biography, veteran computer journalists Stephen Manes and Paul Andrews debunk the myths and paint the definitive picture of the real Bill Gates, "bugs and all," based on a dozen sessions with Gates himself and nearly a thousand hours of interviews with his friends, family, employees, and competitors.

Here's a shy yet courageous competitor who has the guts and bravado to give everything a go, whether it's on a computer, in a negotiation, or on water skis. Here's the arrogant 23-year-old who politely declined Ross Perot's massive buyout offer. Here's the super salesman who inspired his Smart Guys, challenged titans like IBM, and faced up against Steve Jobs of Apple—and generally won.

Here's the workaholic pessimist who presided over Microsoft's spectacular ascent while the majority of other personal computer pioneers faded away. Gates expanded his software vision to include art, entertainment, education, and even biotechnology, and made good on a pledge to put his software "on every desk and in every house."

Gates is a harrowing, thorough account of the microcomputer industry, one of its most powerful corporations, and the man who helped to build a world where software is everything.