Bill Gates

William Henry Gates III (b. October 28, 1955), usually known as Bill Gates, is an American businessman and a microcomputer pioneer. Along with others, he wrote the original Altair BASIC interpreter for the Altair 8800 (an early microcomputer). With Paul Allen, he co-founded Microsoft Corporation, and is now its chairman and "Chief Software Architect." According to Forbes magazine in 2005, Gates is the wealthiest person in the world with a net worth of around US$46.5 billion.

Gates in popular culture

Bill Gates has been the subject of numerous parodies in film, television, and video games, often serving as an archetype for fictional megalomaniacal leaders of powerful corporations. Alternatively, but less frequently, these references portray a hacker genius. Gates is often characterized as the quintessential example of a super-intelligent "nerd" with immense power. This has in turn led to pop culture stereotypes of Gates as a tyrant or evil genius, often resorting to ruthless (and crude) business techniques. Several films and television shows have portrayed either the real Bill Gates or a fictionalized version of him, often according to these clichés.

Related Topics:
Nerd - Pop culture - Stereotype - Tyrant - Evil genius - Cliché

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