Talk:Bill Gates

Irrelavant Reference
"Most firsthand accounts of these meetings portray him as hostile, berating managers for perceived holes in their business strategies or their proposals which place the company's long-term interests at risk.[13][39][40]"

Reference [13] and [39] are not supportive of the claim before them. For one thing reference [13] is an interview with Playboy and not a business discussion with managers. For another, [13] and [39] portray him in a mixed if not strictly neutral light, not particularly concentrating on his hostile personality.

In light of this please delete reference to [13] and [39] because they are irrelevant.

Also, "Most" is POV. Has the writer of this investigated ALL firsthand accounts? I mean come on. Change it to "Certain", or some more neutral term.

Gates's wealth briefly surpassed $100 billion causing him to be referred to in the media as a "centibillionaire"
-G he has 48 billion dolars.

was he really ever worth $100 billion including his gifts? when they refer to his wealth they should include the big gifts. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Whitefriedrice (talk • contribs) 08:19, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

There is no cult of personality at the software giant!
The frontpage of Microsoft.com right now prominently features a young age black-and-white photo of his majesty William Henry Gates III, Emperor of the Galaxy, Order of Merlin first grade, BCE, PhD, MSDN, DoA. Flock to the above named shrine and pay your reveration duly! 82.131.210.162 08:45, 14 May 2007 (UTC)


 * The talk pages are for discussions regarding improvements to the article. Please take this irrelevant rant elsewhere.  Thanks. Phiwum 13:03, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

Dude what does this have to do with Bill gates, ??, oh and by the way its order of merlin first CLASS -anon124.168.115.172 03:22, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

Wealth
A while ago I read that those in the know once thought Gates would probably be the worlds first trillionaire. If he hadn't spent/given away any money and hadn't listed Microsoft on the stockmarket, how close would he have come? Are there any statistics? Bobbacon 11:48, 16 May 2007 (UTC)its true chinese ninjas came out and attacked him again


 * At its all-time peak, Microsoft was valued at $574B. Microsoft continually issued new shares to cover options, so if Gates had never sold a single share his ownership would still have declined significantly from the original 60%. Gazpacho

Dyslexia
Is it at all true about Gates having dyslexia, if so should this be mentioned. 82.23.202.5 22:03, 17 May 2007 (UTC)


 * No, it isn't true. Gazpacho

Atheist or religious person?
some people say bill gates is an atheist, and some people say bill gates is a believing christian. only one of these 2 possibilities can be true. atheists often get attacked by religious people, they get told that atheists have no values and are dangerous/evil, and then often bill gates is used to defend atheism because bill gates has no religion and still donates billions for charity. so, no matter if he really is an atheist or if he is a believing christian, this has to be looked up and should be put into the article. - simon guggenberger, munich 87.174.157.42 13:53, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

edit: i looked it up, there are some quotes that imply that he is an agnostic. but the sources of these quotes are not reliable enough to meet wikipedia standarts, so i dont know what to do about it. 87.174.157.42 17:45, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

Gates was interviewed November 1995 on PBS by David Frost. Below is the transcript with minor edits. Frost: Do you believe in the Sermon on the Mount? Gates: I don't. I'm not somebody who goes to church on a regular basis. The specific elements of Christianity are not something I'm a huge believer in. There's a lot of merit in the moral aspects of religion. I think it can have a very very positive impact. Frost: I sometimes say to people, do you believe there is a god, or do you know there is a god? And, you'd say you don't know? Gates: In terms of doing things I take a fairly scientific approach to why things happen and how they happen. I don't know if there's a god or not, but I think religious principles are quite valid.

Since an atheist is a person who is 'without belief' in a higher power, agnostics are now considered atheist. Gates describes himself as an "agnostic/atheist" - he lacks belief based on a lack of knowledge.

As a seer
The Seattle P-I is running an article here about how accurate are Gates' predictions on future technology. Since it seems Gates does seem to make a considerable amount of predictions, it seems to me the material should go in the article. Does anyone have an idea of where it could go? hateless 03:25, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

Philantropist
Is it accurate to call Bill Gates a philantropist when on the one hand donates money to charity but on the other hand fights free software fiercely? --Taraborn 21:46, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Yes. Gazpacho 09:10, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

If I may add to that answer, any capitalist must fight competition to their products. Only by doing so can they ensure significant profits. While the US government gives relatively little foreign aid, the United States is by far the largest source of private philanthropy, only possible because of people like Mr. Gates. 68.228.75.6 19:11, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

Bill Gates in no longer richest man in the world..
Recent news has shown that Ingvar Kamprad is now richer than bill gates. If you dont belive me look it up on google. Its a fact. So can someone edit Bill Gates page as i dont know how to.
 * The Ingvar Kamprad article lists him as 4th richest in the world according to Forbes. Do you have a more recent source? The rule of thumb is that those wishing to change information need to find the source, not those wishing to keep it the same. Leebo  T / C 17:24, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

The Kamprad claim has been around for a few years now and is pretty questionable. Since Kamprad shelters IKEA through a complex tax avoidance scheme, it is difficult to determine just how much of the company he owns and how much that is worth. The claim that Kamprad is worth more than Gates is based on assuming that he owns all the assets of the company. Gazpacho 09:05, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

What about Bill Gates ads?
Like the Coke commercial.

what the heack is doing in here???????Lone Fox the last of the foxes 13:44, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

Who do you thing you are? Bill Gates also appears in commercials. What's wrong with that?

This is a 'Good Article'?
I don't think so. In fact, it's quite a mess. Among other things, much of the text is placed under the wrong headings. The flow of the language is quite poor. Please clean this up. Fabualia 02:10, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
 * To be fair to those of us here who have actually done something to this article, it is a *lot* better than it was a year ago. Why can't you help? — Wackymacs 18:48, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
 * I am interested in helping, but this is a protected article and I apparently don't have the required credential to contribute. I hope my comment was not taken as a criticism of the contributors.  Yet, I will say that this article is difficult to read.  It is informative, but it is not cohesive or organized.  From looking over the history, it seems as though so much attention was paid to the inclusion/exclusion of very minor details that focus was lost on whether the remaining article is readable or not. Fabualia 20:04, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Any specific suggestions you can make? Maybe you could do a peer review for us and point out the exact sentences/paragraphs that stick out as being bad. — Wackymacs 20:19, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

so true so trueLone Fox the last of the foxes 13:43, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

why doesn't this article mention that bill allegedly borrowed $50,000 from his father to buy the rights to DOS ??? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Whitefriedrice (talk • contribs) 08:26, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Criticism and Controversy
This article could probably use a single section devoted to this. After all, even Oprah has one. I suspect that this page would benefit from this kind of a section. Googlyeyesultra 22:08, 13 June 2007 (UTC)


 * There is already a Criticism of Microsoft article. Is there much sourced criticism of Gates that isn't just personifying Microsoft? Gazpacho 19:58, 16 June 2007 (UTC)


 * There is probably some relevant to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation but that should be covered in that article IMHO (where some already is). So you're probably right, I don't think there is need for criticism of Bill Gates at this time. However we probably should mentiont the criticism of Microsoft in slightly more detail in this article. Currently we only mention his business practices have been criticised without any discussion at all in the article. We should mention it briefly in the article and with main articles as criticism of Microsoft Nil Einne 12:14, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Arrest
What was Bill gates arrested for as it does not seem to say in the article, there is just a photo.


 * The arrest was a traffic violation and Bill did not have ID card that is why he was arrested.


 * According to |The Smoking Gun, the details are not clear.  (Also, please sign your posts with four tildes!) Phiwum 12:57, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

Scottish American?
Does anyone know if bill gates is mostly of Scottish ancestry?
 * Doesn't seem to be Nil Einne 11:15, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Oh my word, look at all those dozens and dozens of English surnames going back many generations. I thought everyone in America was descended from the Irish? Looks like he just might be one of the handful of Americans who actually shares some blood with those two or three hundred settlers and immigrants who came from Blighty - along with the 50-60 million Irish settlers..... [/sarcasm] 62.25.106.209 18:19, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

He's no longer first
He was surpassed by Carlos Slim. See. 193.6.17.174 09:41, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I second that 67.100.76.93 21:26, 3 July 2007 (UTC)


 * '''Let's just note in the article that.. "In some media, it has been said that Carlos Slim has surpass the wealth of Bill Gates."


 * Carlos Slim Helu surpassed Bill Gates in wealth according to an online Mexican financial publication called Sentido Común. Forbes still maintains that Bill Gates is the richest. I have edited the introductory paragraph in the article to reflect this. --Pavithran 13:24, 5 August 2007 (UTC)


 * I am sure that some "neutral" language can be used to express the idea that Gates is *at the moment* one of the richest men, if not the richest. However, I find that going into too much detail in the intro paragraph makes that section too heavy.  That section should give a simple summary of the article.  The discussion and references to information regarding Gates comparative wealth can be better presented in a section. That way, if a reader is not really interested in that area, they can skip it easily. Jsarmi 19:53, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Slanted pro-Bill
Periodically, it is helpful to note that the article about "Bill Gates" has been edited to maintain a pro-Bill slant, and balanced information has been removed that questions Bill's impact. The article beams and glows, "Although he is widely admired,[6][7][8] his business tactics have been criticized as anti-competitive and in some instances ruled as such in court." However, many strongly negative reports exist about Bill Gates. In fact, a search of Internet sources reveals much negative analysis as follows:


 * He promoted MS-DOS to IBM, which was based on a low-quality system called Q-DOS "Quick and Dirty Operating System";
 * He proclaimed, "The Internet is a passing fad" (in 1995);
 * He proclaimed, "Spam will be a thing of the past in 2 years";
 * He has been described as a "software pirate" (numerous sources).

Some of his opinions are so disliked that websites post comments such as "I wish Bill Gates would stop making predictions." However, the current Wikipedia article has been edited to remove any statements that question his intelligence or debate his contributions to computer technology. This article should have a banner that the "neutrality of contents are disputed" with a note stating, "In 2007 Microsoft was caught paying people to slant Wikipedia articles" and cite several sources, including:
 * "Microsoft Busted For Paid Wikipedia ‘Spamming’" by Loren Baker, Search Engine Journal.

This talk page is archived periodically, but the topic of "Slanted" should be re-added as a continually current issue to alert concerned readers. Thank you. =209.214.44.19 05:54, 9 July 2007 (UTC)


 * That's a very novel suggestion, but how about you just explain how you think the article should be different, and based on what reliable sources? You'll note the article you mention says nothing about the Bill Gates article. Gazpacho 02:50, 11 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Gates also has publically stated he wants more foreign workers allowed into the United States due to the "shortage" of qualified American workers. Some of his views put him right there as a globalist, ironic since some anti-globalists from his Seattle area helped disrupt the 1999 WTO meeting held in Seattle. WordsExpert 21:44, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

Awards and recognition
The "Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation" for 2006 is listed twice in this section. The first time the award title is in Spanish. I'd recommend someone with access removing the first version.

Gates and China article in recent Fortune magazine.
It would be great if someone summarized what Bill Gates's visit to China is about.72.161.99.120 05:07, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

How much does he have?
NYTimes claims he's worth 82 billion

source: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/business/20070715_GILDED_GRAPHIC.html#


 * That article's source is a book that was last updated in 1996. Gazpacho 18:05, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

Protected?
Why is this article protected? Glancing at the history, I'm not seeing many vandalisms. There are plenty of articles that get lots of regular vandalism but which are also not protected (e.g. L. Ron Hubbard. The vandalism is removed quickly and new or unregistered users add necessary citations and information easily and are encouraged to continue. Perhaps I'm missing something, but if neither the history nor the talk page reveal any real problem, then I think it should be unprotected.--Heyitspeter 19:24, 19 July 2007 (UTC)


 * When this page has been unprotected, the vandalism has quickly (i.e. within a week) increased to 25 per day. Gates is much better-known than Hubbard, particularly among internet nerds who come here to vandalize. Keep this in mind in deciding whether to request unprotection. Gazpacho 08:31, 20 July 2007 (UTC)


 * We've dropped it for now. Let me know if vandalism levels rise again.  GRBerry 21:52, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

There was a Very VERY big vandalism some time ago, where bill gate's photo was altered -(hehe, that guy had nerve). Hence this article is protected —Preceding unsigned comment added by Addy-g-indahouse (talk • contribs) 12:18, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

I added a fact-based paragraph with references about what Forbes says
I added a brief paragraph at the beginning that talks about how Forbes still says Bill Gates is the richest man in the world. Forbes also points out tht they will not recalculate the wealth of Carlos Slim until next year. It is also worth noting that the wealth of Carlos Slim is in the stock market, which means it could vastly decrease in value at any time.

To answer the question of someone else, I think it's worth pointing out that Bill Gates has donated over $30 billion of his personal wealth to charity. The value of the Bill & Melinda Gates charity organization is not included when Bill Gates wealth is estimated at 56 Billion dollars. I personally think it is incredible that Bill Gates is the only man in history to be worth over $100 billion dollars, and he has give such a huge percentage of that money to charity. I believe the same can be said about Warrent Buffett. Ted Turner also gave one-third of his personal wealth to charity. I wish the same could be said about Carlos Slim, because that would help the world even more. Mike mgoblue 22:07, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

yes, they must include his gifts as part of his wealth. sorry slim. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Whitefriedrice (talk • contribs) 08:21, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Pictures
IMHO, the first picture in the section "Early life," showing Bill Gates with the president of Colombia does not seem to match that section. Can someone find a better pic? If not, at least as in the case of other pictures the year of the picture could be mentioned. Btw, why is this picture "a work of the United States Federal Government"? as described on Wiki commons? Jsarmi 20:02, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Bill Gete is hated over the world.He is crazy.He thinks about money. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Special:Contributions/ (talk)

Notable?
Is he notable? I've never heard of him. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.15.229.198 (talk) 14:29, August 27, 2007 (UTC)

Link to Greek wikipedia
May I ask someone to add an interwiki to the greek wikipedia? It goes like this: " Μπιλ Γκέητς " while the code for greek is "el".

Thanks a lot —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.74.65.130 (talk) 19:31, August 28, 2007 (UTC)

Isn't he actually "William Henry Gates, Jr."?
According to the article on his father (William Henry Gates II), his father was born "William Henry Gates III", being son of "William Henry Gates II" and grandson of "William Henry Gates I"; then upon entering the Army he legally changed his name to "William Henry Gates", and then later began using "William Henry Gates, Sr." to differentiate himself from his more famous son. Therefore, isn't Bill Gates is either "William Henry Gates, Jr." or "William Henry Gates IV" -- depending on your point of view, rather than "William Henry Gates III"?

Thanks, BCorr | Брайен 14:44, 29 August 2007 (UTC)