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How long ago was computer giant Microsoft founded?

In 1977 Bill Gates (1955– ) left Harvard University, where he was a student, to found the Microsoft Corporation with his businessman friend Paul Allen (1953– ). By 1999, Microsoft software was being used in nine out of ten personal computers, the company employed 29,000 people, and Gates was the richest person in the world. According to some estimates, at that time his net worth (value of all assets, property, and other holdings) was $85,000,000,000.

Further Information: Lesinski, Jeanne. Bill Gates. Minneapolis, Minn.: Lerner, 1999; Lowe, Janet. Bill Gates Speaks. New York: John Wiley, 1998; Microsoft Corporation. [Online] Available http://www.microsoft.com, October 30, 2000.

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