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I did a quick Google search and found these useful Bill Gates biographies on the Internet that we can use to improve the Wikipedia article:
— Wackymacs 10:49, 6 December 2005 (UTC)
The United States Constitution in fact forbids American officials, but not citizens from accepting honors and titles from foreign princes:
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State.
As such it is not proper at all to list Gates' KBE in this article as a way of identifying him. It is against the spirit, and if Profit is construed as being a CEO of a modern public corporation, Gates' acceptance of this bauble may be illegal.
Very little precedent exists prior to the acceptance by the convicted felon Caspar Weinberger, former US official responsible for Contra destabilitization of Nicaragua, of a knighthood. NO US official or public figure has until the 1980s willingly accepted a British knighthood to my knowledge. Today, at a minimum, one would expect that the figure would not want part of his signature.
Therefore I have removed KBE. It biases the article towards a recent Anglo American "special relationship".
Away with this bauble. It is silly. It is arrogant. It sets up a New Class of people of modest accomplishments.
That is of course only my opinion, but the article violates good NPOV style by an inappropriate foreign title.
Spinoza1111 07:20, 12 December 2005 (UTC)Thanks for the information.
A title such as KBE, CMG (commander of the order of St Michael and St George, known waggishly as call me god), KCMG (knight commander of the order of St Michael and St. George), or GCMG (grand commander, etc., God calls me god) is only appropriate as an annunciator within a moral community that accepts the titles as central.
For example, the only people who in America follow their names, used as annunciators, with "PhD" are usually out to hornswoggle the public with liver pills or Intelligent Design, which is why we Americans say, never play cards with a man named Doc.
OK, he's the Chief Visionary, or something like that, and has been since around 2000. The reasoning stands. And I am well aware that when Americans receive these titles, they are qualified as "honorary" to make us forget our Constitution. This changes nothing, for they are honorary and titular for British recipients, providing no power sacred or secular, only the power to rather more lord it over the working people in a new aristocracy that has based its wealth on theft.Spinoza1111 04:59, 13 December 2005 (UTC)
I repeat, these honors and titles were not accepted, or if accepted, not publicized, by Americans until the convicted felon Caspar Weinberger and the senile old fool Ronald Reagan saw fit to accept these baubles in violation of the spirit of American equalitySpinoza1111 04:59, 13 December 2005 (UTC)
>>Things like calling Ronald Reagan a "senile old fool" are the very thing that drive the credibility of Wikipedia into the toilet.71.244.163.156 02:42, 3 March 2006 (UTC)
They have been REFUSED by several noble fellows including Mr. David Bowie because they encapsulate thousands of years of unjust expropriation and bullying.Spinoza1111 04:59, 13 December 2005 (UTC)
Why don't you just let the man alone!
With regards to the above, my understanding is the original reason for the move is widely believed to have been in preparation for the possible split-up of Microsoft. Gates wanted to be in the company that developed Office etc not the OS company. Can anyone comment on this? Nil Einne 19:35, 8 December 2005 (UTC)
An anonymous editor recently added "KBE" to Gates' title once again. See the archive for past discussions on the matter (KBE is not used in most of his biographies). Shawnc 22:24, 10 December 2005 (UTC)
80.58.32.171 replaced each of the individual sections with the text "see criminal". Several non-admins have attempted to reverse but it it's not totally fixed. An admin needs to revert it to the last edit before 80.58.32.171 started to vandalize.
The image on the page has been vandalised. I have no idea how to change it...
Is it true that Bill Gates once worked for Apple? -An Annonymous User
It says at the top of the article that Bill Gates' income is just $1 million dollars. If you read further, just his property tax is more than one million dollars (see: "...the annual property tax is just over $1 million.").
He's got to be making more than just a million a year.
This page gets vandalised very frequently, therefore I think we should semi-protext it. Unless there is much objection I will do it soon. Martin 18:54, 11 January 2006 (UTC)
I've added KBE again, just to spite the rambling idiot Spinoza1111 who calls Ronald Reagan a "senile old fool". --65.211.7.138 18:25, 21 January 2006 (UTC)
That's awesome 69.114.151.176 23:35, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
Any reason IQ was dropped from early life? Ya, IQ flaunting can be a bit of a pissing match but it's still on topic. Perhaps re-add in line regarding SATs. Marskell 15:13, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
I do think that the man is unquestionably very intelligent and certainly gifted. However, it would be a logical fallacy to rank him up there with Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein simply because of the fortune he has amassed, and the fact that he is extremely computer literate and business savvy.
He has an IQ of 160 according to who? There are many anonymous sites on the net with spurious lists of IQs. These are generally not credible sources. Now, some are based on serious studies. However, those are based on extremely well documented observations of truly profoundly and globally intellectually gifted persons.
I have read a few nebulous articles stating that Bill Gates has an IQ of 160, 165, and even 180. In one of them there was a ludicrous section on how to tell a person's IQ based on their handwriting. Unless this information is coming from a person who is a recognized authority on such matters (with an actual doctorate), it really isn't very useful for the purpose of Encyclopedia articles.
To my knowledge, no official score from a test conducted by a licensed psychologist or other such psychometric specialist on Mr. Gates indicating his IQ has been released to the public. If I were to create a web site and make a list of people that I believe (based on my own intuition) have IQ's of greater than 150 this would not be evidence.
His SATs were 1590 according to who? At the time he got into Harvard the bottom requirements were 1370 or possibly lower and let's not forget that he dropped out. When George W. Bush was admitted into Yale with his SAT score of 1206, the standard for Yale was supposed to be 1330. Both come from rich families with more than enough influence to get a person without an extraordinary academic record into Yale or Harvard.
To my knowledge, Mr. Gates' SAT scores have never officially been released to the public, although he may have stated what he recalled they were in an interview. However, it would be better to have a link to the interview where he stated what his SAT was as a reference, than a list said to be based on what he might have said to the press at some other time. Anything less than that really should be left out. There was a link provided in the article as a reference to his SAT score, but it refers to what was stated in a press inquiry. Anything less than the actual record of the SAT score isn't proof. To quote the article: "Here are a few SATs of some well-known Americans, based on their own recollections or press inquiries." The article doesn't even tell you in what publication he said what his SAT was.
Also, since about 1993 the position of organizations such as Mensa on SAT scores is that they are not a good indicator of IQ as they are more involved in academic minutia than in critical reasoning and creative problem solving. ScifiterX 04:55, 2 March 2006 (UTC)
On top of that, IQ tests aren't generally used to measure one's alleged "intelligence"; they are designed to determine whether one needs special education services. Never has an assessment been so misinterpreted and misused by people with political axes to grind.
In the introduction, the article states the following:
Then later in the article, under the heading "Personal life", the article states:
When was the organization actually founded? This should be clarified and cited.—Kbolino 06:06, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
Wrong, the Brunei sultan was the richest in 1996-1997 http://www.sultanbrunei.com/
With a wealthy background (Gates was born with a million dollar trust fund set up by his grandfather in 1955, who was a national bank vice-president) he was able to access computers from a very early age (See:http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~an497637/project1.doc). Gates has denied having a trust fund while at Harvard in a Playboy Magazine interview but did not specifically deny being born with a trust fund.
I would note that the trust is part of the public record and has been reported in various biographies of Bill Gates
One biography that provides evidence for the Bill Gates trust fund is - www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671880748?v=glance
Until this dispute can be resolved I think both points of view should be expressed via the inclusion of the trust fund information with the .edu source and the Playboy Magazine quote.
I would note the language claiming Bill Gates was born with a trust fund stood for quite sometime before Gazpacho decided to start editing it out based on anecdotal information. I have attempted to present both points of view to maintain neutrality.
I will concede to the "several biographers" language but I will not concede to the fact that Gates claimed to never have a trust fund period as the language is ambiguous. I believe Bill Gates is claiming he never used trust funds while at Harvard since the question he was asked was direct to that point and his sentence stipulates to funding being provided to him for attending Harvard which may have been paid for via a trust fund. I believe Bill Gates is claiming he never directly had control over any trust funds while attneding Harvard but that is not tantamount to a specific claim that his grandfather did not establish a trust fund for him.
It was a long interview and Bill Gates did not fully elucidate what specifically he meant. Also, it is very common for celebrities to mispeak during interviews and it is my belief that the carefully researched work of several academic biographers trumps a single answer during a single interview in terms of credence. However, in the spirit of neutrality both points of view should be presented until the dispute can be fully resolved.
It may perhaps be helpful in order to mediate this dispute to understand why in particular the issue is so important to either of you. For example, while I have absolutely no clue about the trust fund issue, I am, however, quite familiar with certain key events in Bill Gates' career that contributed to his unprecedented success. I'd be glad to share them with you, but first I'd like to know what's at the bottom of this dispute. Is it simply a case of "Bill-Gates-gets-too-much-credit-because-he-was-a-spoiled-brat-born-with-a-silver-spoon-in-his-mouth" vs. "Bill-Gates-is-perhaps-the-most-intelligent-and-business-savvy-person-to-ever-walk-the-Earth"? Loomis51 01:43, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
Can we please sprotect this article? — Ilyanep (Talk) 23:28, 14 February 2006 (UTC)
Does anybody know much about Gates' political views? They seem a bit of a mystery, and something in the article would be very enlightening. Nicholasink 00:21, 19 February 2006 (UTC)
I had read in a Wikipedia article on him that Bill Gates contributed a few thousand dollars to the George Bush campaign in 2004. --66.81.193.127 13:02, 4 March 2006 (UTC)
I am just wondering how someone who has spent 1/3 of their entire life income on charity is still embroiled in controversy as to the motives of their generous nature. In the article, Bill Gates III is claimed to have spent more than $25 000 000 000 on charity. How is it that people STILL think that he has motives. It is so pathetic to see people have to pick and knaw at people who are rich, even though they donate BILLIONS of dollars to charity. Can't anyone see that Bill Gates alone has helped so many people through he and his wife's foundation? Why do people still critisize him?--138.130.220.28 02:20, 25 February 2006 (UTC)
65.40.139.84 00:13, 31 March 2006 (UTC) One could easily argue that any man that spends $2000 on a door knob isn't really that serious about helping others, think of how many people could have been helped if bill lived like a normal middle class person had all the money he spent on a rich lifestyle. Real rich people to admire are those that live well below there means and actually attempt to extract the most benefit for others despite themselves, while retaining enough income to be secure. IMHO excess is in fact considered immorral, this is why rich people are constantly knawed at, in fact many rich people support wittingly or unwittingly creation of poverty through their own corporate interests, through the "musical chairs" of moving to other countries and "pump and dump" on their societies until labour gets too expensive, then onto the next country.
ummm, 25 billion to charity asshole. thats more the the US government gives in foriegn aid each year. Let him buy his 2,000 doorknob, that doorknob company has employees that benifited by that perchase. You also have to consider the fact that Bill Gates role in the computer revolution is responsible for massive economic gains of billion and billions of dollars. entire industries exist because of this man, thousands and thousands of jobs created because of him. Put down your copy of the communist manifesto and worship this man as the God that he is.
Should we use Image:Bill Gates 2004 cr.jpg because it is free? Image:Bill Gates1.jpg seems nicer but is only fair use. Shawnc 05:58, 25 February 2006 (UTC)
The succession box seems inappropriate for the purpose of displaying the Forbes Richest list, so it's being removed. Shawnc 04:31, 12 March 2006 (UTC)
The category-footer of the page indicates he is an athiest. Can this be confirmed?
In a 20/20 interview of 1998, Barbara Walters asked him if he believed in God. His reply was that he had a religous upbringing. He didn't specify which religion, but certainly there was no indication of him being athiest.
I noticed that Bill Gates is in the "Scottish Americans" category, but this isn't mentioned anywhere in the article, and indeed the "Gates family" page just lists Gates family members with no indication as to how they're related and says it's a disambiguation page, and the most obvious alternative for info (his father) doesn't mention anything about it. Perhaps it'd be good to include some sort of mention in the article/provide some sort of evidence? :) --ElectricSkrill 14:27, 21 March 2006 (UTC)
My reasons for my particular wording are as follows:
Gazpacho 04:01, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
I think it is very important to convey that even despite Gates' intelligence, foresight, and philanthropy, there are records of activity that was anticompetitive and limited consumer choice. Further, these accounts have been tried, appealled, retried and upheld by courts in the United States (findings of felony antitrust violations, Sherman Act 1 and 2, as well as dozens of state statutes governing competition and business practices) and similar findings in Europe and Korea. These are not accusations by competitors or individuals (to date, no court has ever ruled on a competition complaint filed by Microsoft's competitors), but accusations brought to court and tried by federal authorities at the highest levels of the US government. This is a fair and accurate account of Bill Gates' ambition. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.245.149.13 (talk • contribs)
A court did rule in the Bristol v. Microsoft case. Gazpacho 18:32, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
I have no idea why but there was a long protracted edit war on the Microsoft page about this by various anons and users. I eventually settled with just "international", but I do wonder whether that information is correct anymore and someone knows something I don't... Just another star in the night T | @ | C 06:36, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
From what I understand, Bill Gates owns approximately 1 billion shares of Microsoft (representing about 9.5% of the company). With the shares trading at about $27, this adds up to about $27 billion. Yet his net worth is estimated at upwards of $50 billion. Anyone out there have any idea what assets are in the other half of his portfolio? Loomis51 11:55, 24 March 2006 (UTC)
Corbis and biotech investments are the main things, I believe. See [6]. And he's a director of Berkshire Hathaway, which implies some ownership there. Gazpacho 22:02, 24 March 2006 (UTC)
This sentence was removed earlier, as no sources are cited. Does anyone know the source for this info, so that the text can be reincorporated into the article?
Actually I was talking about the "inconsistent" bit. I know Gates read discarded listings; anyone interested in programming does. But the "inconsistent" remark is weasel-worded. I'm pretty sure I wrote it myself as a tone-down of blatant POV, but I don't remember exactly what was there before.
I don't like the first two sections of this article very much. The "Early life" section is embarrassingly short (not mentioning, for example, Gates's many small-time business deals before Traf-O-Data), and there's a lot about Microsoft that has no clear connection to Gates. People have a tendency to personify Microsoft as Gates when the reality is more complicated. And many of the other sections stray off topic. Unfortunately Gates is one of those people it's hard to be neutral on. Gazpacho 19:11, 28 March 2006 (UTC)
Use of the term "closed source" -- a backward construction from "open source" -- is misleading, as it implies that a conscious choice was made in the false dichotomy between an "open source" model and a "closed source" model. What is termed "closed source" is the normal legal relationship between content creators and content users. Under the copyright laws normally in effect in all industrial countries (i.e., under the Berne Convention copyright treaty), this content is private property as soon as it is created. It is only through carefully written licenses that software can be made "open source." When Microsoft started selling software, it was doing so as a business. Why should it have been expected to create complex licenses to deprive itself of control over its product? -- Bob
In the popular culture heading, it is said that a fictional account of Bill Gates is alluded to in an episode of the X-Files. I've seen the episode in question quite a number of times (I'm a huge X-Phile), and its by no means an account of Gates, and definitely an account of arch-nemesis, Steve Jobs. Mr. Brown 20:21, 16 April 2006 (UTC)
There would appear to be some confusion on the term "richest". The cited Forbes list has gone through lengths to determine individual fortunes, whereas the Times list clusters people into families. The Waltons, for example, have common control over that stated block of capital - parsing out the individual intrests would leave Robson with less money than several other Waltons. I'm not sure why they chose him (his ongoing involvement in the company)? At that, there are several entries on the Times list that come right out and say "Forest and John" or "Karl and Theo" and then group the money.
My assumption is that the Forbes list is the correct indicator of individual wealth, as it can best be determined, and we should revert back to yesterday's version. Kuru talk 16:08, 23 April 2006 (UTC)
Hi Oscar, I apologize for reverting your edits but I just think that it is important to not only keep the arrow figure that states how Gates' wealth has changed in the past year, but also to indicate that Robson Walton and the rest of his family are indeed richer than Gates, but each family member alone is NOT. Please, could someone at least note the Walton's combine wealth, but still state that Gates is the richest man in the world? And could someone please put back the red arrow? Thank you!!! User:Theelectricchild 23, April 2006
Thats a good point. World's Richest Man, not head of the world's Richest Family. WookMuff 10:01, 26 April 2006 (UTC)
There should be enough fotos of the world's richest man without having to use a mug shot. If it was for an arrest that was pertinent to his professional career, that might be appropriate. Although it's not an unflattering shot (relatively speaking), I think it may be a violation of WP:NPOV.Tomcool 19:47, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
This is the richest man in the country. Any arrest by the richest man is newsworthy, however minor. Please stop removing the booking photo. Every removal is strictly POV!
We do not use KBE or any other post-nominal letters with Bill Gates's name since, according to the Wikipedia Style Guide, Post-nominals should not be used for non-Commonwealth or former British Empire citizens as their use outside a Commonwealth context are extremely rare. –Shoaler (talk) 13:17, 25 April 2006 (UTC)
Surley KBE should be used as it is an officialy ordained title onto someone by a head of state. When the KBE was issued the BBC covered It by adding the letters KBE after his name so it should be added to his name. its the same as someone being given an honarary doctorate they are still allowed to use the title Dr.--Lucy-marie 23:03, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
In the article it says that both, Kristanne and Libby, are Bill's younger sisters. But this article from TIME Magazine states that Kristanne is one year older while Libby is nine years younger. Can anyone verify their ages and change the article accordingly? 217.238.40.117 17:32, 5 May 2006 (UTC)
There was an interview on The_Big_Idea_With_Donny_Deutsch that ran for like an hour a couple of days ago. Yet another source I thought I'd mention. Just another star in the night T | @ | C 07:18, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
I have been noticing several edits by users with the sole purpose of changing the red loss indicator arrow to a green profit indicator arrow. Clearly, there is a bit of confusion on the matter. The red loss arrow does in NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, indicate DEBT. I implore you to look at other well written articles such as the one on Warren Buffet, or other billionaires whose fortunes have slowly decreased over the years. The red loss indicator is shown to indicate that the individual in question has a current net worth that is lower TODAY, than it was the LAST TIME the mentioned Forbes/Fortune article indicated his or her net worth. Please leave the indicator as a red loss arrow, since Bill Gates' wealth was estimated at 51 billion dollars on the 400 richest americans list, and is now estimated at 50 billion on the world's richest people for 2006. Please post your thoughts within this discussion, or direct them to me. I wish to enforce this with a passion, due to the immense confusion it is causing with Wikipedia terminology/jargon. Thank you. --Theelectricchild 18:08, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
It's actually gone up. He was worh $46.5 billion according to forbes in 2005, now he is worth $50 billion by forbes in 2006. An increase of 7.5%
Dear anonymous poster: Thank you for including the percentage figure and clearing the ambiguation! --Theelectricchild 23:55, 25 June 2006 (UTC)
This article seems heavily biased aginast Bill Gates.--GorillazFan Adam 21:49, 15 June 2006 (UTC)
There is a huge chunk about Microsoft. Some of it is relevant, because of course Gates and Microsoft can't easily be separated. But what does stuff like:
"It has been pointed out that Microsoft often produces products that incorporate ideas developed outside Microsoft, such as GUIs, the BASIC programming language, or compressed file systems, without paying royalties to the companies that developed them." Have to do with Bill Gates? I think the Microsoft section should be roughly halved in size, this is a Bill Gates article, not a Microsoft one.
Because Gates wouldn't be on the map if it wasn't for Microsoft.
I assume it's OK for this image to go; otherwise there would be a screenshot of one of the "Bomis Babes" in Jim Wales' article. Both are about as relevant, I'd say. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.231.49.252 (talk • contribs)
If the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was founded in 2000, how is it that it "Donated $20 million in 1998 to endow a scholarship program at Melinda Gates' alma mater, Duke University" as one reads in the article on the foundation itself? (The article on the Foundation doesn't say when it was founded, but obviously it was pre-2000 if the sentence cited is correct.) --Haruo 06:20, 16 June 2006 (UTC)
If you want to know what kind of person Bill Gates really is read his own words below as they appear in the court record.
I doubt my edit will remain in this article due to Bill Gate's power and wealth, but from what I've read this is the true story.
Bill Gates referred IBM to Professor Gary Kildall, the founder of Digital Research, but when they did not reach immediate agreement with him they went back to Gates, who offered to fill their need himself. He licensed a modified version of CP/M from Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer Products for $56,000, and IBM shipped it as PC-DOS.
Seattle Computer products needed an operating system for a computer they were making that was going to use the Intel 8088 chip. They went to Gary Kildall and asked him to modify CP/M so it would run on Intel's 8088 chip. Gary Kildall told Seattle Computer Products he didn't have the time. So, Seattle Computer Products asked one of their programmers by the name of Tim Paterson to write a patch for CP/M to allow it to run on the Intel chip. Tim Paterson did so, and named "his" creation "Quick and Dirty Dos." Neither Tim Paterson nor Seattle Computer Products ever got permission from Gary Kildall to modify CP/M. Even if permission had been granted, what Tim Paterson wrote would have belonged to Seattle Computer Products not to Tim Paterson, since he created it for Seattle Computer products while he was their salaried employee. Gary Kildall could have sued Bill Gates, Microsoft and IBM, but was personally averse to litigation. Eventually, he did sue Bill Gates, Microsoft and IBM, and won a relatively modest settlement.
Michael D. Wolok 07:09, 20 June 2006 (UTC)
You will find reference to the lawsuit on Gary Kildall's Wikipedia webpage. I am not absolutely certain of this fact. I will remove reference to it in the article. But it is inconceivable to me that any potential defendant was left out. When a suit like this is filed, plaintiffs must list all potential defendants.
The other part of the story that this article fails to discuss is this:
MS-DOS became the de facto standard because IBM used it in their PC. Bill Gates then refused to sell MS-DOS to any computer manufacturer that offered micro-computers with any other OS. This was a clear violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Bill Gates continued this illegal practice for many years, and it enabled him to build his company to an unprecedented level. When no US Attorney General would enforce the law, more than a dozen Attorney Generals from different states filed suit against Microsoft. They won their case, but the companies that lost out were never made whole. In the early years of MS-DOS, Professor Gary Kildall, himself, came-out with a competitive product called DR DOS. Microsoft refused to sell MS-DOS to any computer manufacturer who also offered their customers DR DOS. Since no computer manufacturer could remain in business without selling MS-DOS, they all caved-in to Microsoft's demands, and Dr Dos and Gary Kildall lost out again.
I would have bought DR DOS, if I had known the truth at the time. I really feel bad for Professor Kildall. From what I understand, he was a true genius. I don't understand how we let Bill Gates get away with this.
I admire George Soros, Jim Wales (another successful trader), Steve Wazniak, Steve Jobs and all true geniuses. But it seems the real story of Bill Gates and Microsoft is a sad one, one where disregard for the law, and retalatory threats paid-off.
Michael D. Wolok 07:48, 20 June 2006 (UTC)
The following comes from Case# 296CV 0645B in US District Court.
(lengthy exerpts from Caldera v. Microsoft, [8])
Though still the dominant operating system for personal computers, MS-DOS is a dinosaur. By not adapting to the changing needs of program developers and users, DOS has become a dead end on the evolutionary path and is headed for extinction. It's played out, unfixable, and hopelessly inadequate for supporting the applications of the 1990s.
Exhibit 14 (PC Magazine, September 29, 1987)
The above is public record.
Michael D. Wolok 21:08, 21 June 2006 (UTC)
I deeply resent your uncivil insinuation. How would you like it if I wrote: "Warren, if your desire is to molest little boys, you won't get far with it on Wikipedia." Promoting a smear campaign is the last thing I wish to do. I just want everyone to know the truth about Bill Gates, and the truth about Professor Gary Kildall. I believe the truth about Bill Gates is very unflattering and not widely known. I am sorry to rain on your holy cow.
The facts speak for themselves. It sounds to me like you want Wikipedia to sugarcoat Bill Gates' life, and you are saying Wikikpedia supports your effort. You may be right, but I certainly hope not. I have never met Bill Gates. I have no personal grudge against him, nor any reason to have a personal grudge against him. I am happy when people succeed honestly as George Soros has, as Steve Wazniak and Steve Jobs have, as Jim Wales has. I dislike it when people stomp on other people, steal their intellectual property, violate Federal law and gain from their activity.
I am amazed that people have the positive view of him that they do. I get the feeling that people admire success no matter how it is achieved. Successful people mesmerize the average citizen into believing they are idols, heros and Gods and can do no wrong. Dapper Don Gotti has a big fan following as well. Unlike Gotti, Bill Gates never killed anyone, and may never have violated a single criminal law. But in my book his conduct was far from ethical. I know today, most American believe all is fair in love, war and business, but that is not how I see things. My thought is that because the average human being tends to be selfish and unethical, they give Bill Gates a pass. You might not agree with me that the average human is selfish and unethical, and that might be true from your perspective. But I hold people, including myself, to a much higher moral standard than most people do.
Moreover, I care more about Professor Gary Kildall's loss than Bill Gates' questionable gains. Professor Kildall was a creative genius. We both owe him an immense debt. On the other hand, I saw Microsoft achieve success using strong arm tactics, and use the tactic VHS used in beating out Betamax.
I wish there was some evidence to the contrary, but all evidence seems to indicate that Bill Gates is philistine, that he never really cared to make the best product he could. His hallmark has been buying second rate products, giving them away free until they become an industry standard that kill off better products. Bill Gates knows people will buy an inferior product for the sake of compatibility, and has exploiting this piece of knowledge from the beginning.
Do you know who Philo Farnsworth is? How about Kary Mullis? How about Leo Szilard? I feel bad that Creadance Clearwater Survival lost all rights to their own music. I think they were cheated. The average person supports the popularizer, not the creative genius without whom we would be living in the stone-age. I believe we owe genius creators more, and notorious self-promoters less.
Michael D. Wolok 02:59, 22 June 2006 (UTC)
I've restored this into the lead section:
There is some disagreement as to whether the term "centibillionaire" refers to 100 billion, or 10 million (as "centi" typically stands for 1/100ths). Here's two reasons why it needs to stay in the article:
In conclusion, the "centibillionaire" comment should stay. If nobody makes a good argument for its removal that overrides the above, I will continue to push its inclusion. Warrens 21:31, 25 June 2006 (UTC)
indeed right ehm so ... hectobillionaire ?.
--86.15.152.208 16:45, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
It adds the ability to link to the article about the subject. Gazpacho 19:44, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
I'm confused. Is Bill Gates still CSA of Microsoft? I had edited the page without any proof of this.
Thekietstuff 04:49, 26 June 2006 (UTC)
In 2008 he will quit Microsoft and Warren Buffet will be the new CEO. He has said that he would work for Microsoft some time as a consultant. But he will focus more on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.<Seidon 20:28, 4 July 2006 (CET)
I understand that Bill Gates doesn't actually give birth, but the way it's written makes it sound like the kids aren't Bill's, or something. Maybe change it to "They have three children"? — Miles←☎ 03:34, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
Spinoza1111 04:19, 12 June 2006 (UTC)Give me a break. You don't address a British knight as "sir" in anywhere but the inaccurate, outdated and Eurocentric Encyclopedia Britannica. This is because globally, it isn't expected or acceptable to speak English as if you were British: to say, Sir Douchebag or Lady Camilla. You do so only if you've been invited to a bunfight and you do so at the bunfight as common courtesy. But any more than "Lord" McCartney kow-towed to the emperor of China during his foolish mission of 1795, you do not, even in a honorary sense, reinforce, as the citizen of your country, pretensions beyond the norm of a foreign prince.
Spinoza1111 04:19, 12 June 2006 (UTC)I realize that many wikipedians put on their special encyclopedia hats when posting and updating but the problem is today that "intellectuals" have been excessively house-trained as "the subordinate half of the dominant class" (Adorno) and any number of clowns here think they are under a special requirement to use intellect to reinforce thug power and not, as in the Enlightenment, to deconstruct thug power.
Spinoza1111 04:19, 12 June 2006 (UTC)News fa lash. The greatest encyclopedians, and their cousins the makers of dictionaries (Webster and Johnson) had a political agenda and were not as it happens "neutral" little creeps, laboring under the confusion of neutrality with a nasty and curdled sex neuter-ality. As men they weren't afraid of carrying out a political mission and indeed redressing a non-neutral bias.
Spinoza1111 04:19, 12 June 2006 (UTC)Why the hell did Webster simplify "colour" to "color", and Samuel Johnson's definition of oats is well-known. The latter was a bit of an obvious joke which is allowed the harmless drudge but more broadly, Johnson made globally the neutral-but-not-neuter point that free men needed to spell and use words consistently.
Spinoza1111 04:19, 12 June 2006 (UTC)Diderot made a point of recognizing the work of the people as the source of all value and not the pretensions of the *ancien regime*.
Spinoza1111 04:19, 12 June 2006 (UTC)British laugh at Americans who call Gates sir, because contemporary British people, up to and including Prince William, are heartily sick of the mummery.
Many other pages in Wikipedia list people as "Sir" who have KBE title. Two that come to mind are [[9]] and [[10]]. Indeed, Sir Paul McCartney is of a lower order in the British Empire than Sir William Gates is, so if one of the two should be listed, it should be Gates.
Other discussion on this talk page notes that accepting KBE may be unlawful in the United States. This is absolutely not relevant. He has accepted the title; it IS his title; whether he legally can accept it is not an issue for this encyclopedia. The fact stands that he already has.
The only issue for this encyclopedia is the stylistic distinction of whether the title should be displayed. If we go for consistency, we should list him as "Sir" as we do with "Sir Isaac Newton" and "Sir Paul McCartney".
If you respond to my request for commends with a negative, please clarify your stance on the "US citizens can't have titles" issue -- I don't want to get into a discussion of this because it's not relevant and not for us to decide. As an encyclopedia, we should merely recognize that he HAS the title and not engage in a stupid dispute over its legality. If someone is a lawyer then I would request he put his comments here about its legality. Otherwise, if you are not a lawyer, you are not qualified to dispense legal advise and your opinion on the legality of his title is both arbitrary and not fit to influence this document.
He has the title. That is fact. The question is why Sir Isaac Newton and Sir Paul McCartney are listed as such when Sir William Gates is not.
Xiphoris 19:14, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
Also, just to clarify: I am not recommending KBE at the end of his name; I am recommending we address him as "sir".
The question I'm asking is why other gentlemen on Wikipedia are introduced like "'Sir Isaac Newton, President of the Royal Society, was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, chemist, inventor, and ..."
Xiphoris 19:17, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
I've read more archived discussion on the talk page and see some good arguments both ways. Some people say that because Bill Gates himself does not use it, that we also should not. I don't see that as a compelling argument: he also calls himself Bill, but we're an encyclopedia and thus address him as William Gates in his article.
Indeed, I do consider it important to at least list his title somewhere in the passage. If not after his name, as KBE, then how?
I'd also like to point out that Paul McCartney did not refer to himself as MBE but the article page still lists it after his name on his article [12]
I just want some consistency between pages. So what's the verdict?
Xiphoris 19:21, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
Those bestowed with the title KBE who are not citizens of the Queen, can accept title, but may not use the prefix "Sir". Bill gates can use the title KBE after his name, but may not use the prefix "Sir" unless he becomes a citizen of Great Britain. KBE should follow his name. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.65.131.202 (talk • contribs) .
However saying that being awarded an honarary docterate still entitles the use of the Dr. suffix.So how come it dose not apply In this case.--Lucy-marie 00:03, 5 August 2006 (UTC)