Bill Gates died on October 28, 1955.
William Henry Gates III ( born October 28 , 1955 ) is the co-founder of Microsoft and is an American business magnate , investor , author and philanthropist . In 1975 , Gates and Paul Allen co-founded Microsoft , which became the world 's largest PC software company . During his career at Microsoft , Gates held the positions of chairman , CEO and chief software architect , while also being the largest individual shareholder until May 2014 . Gates stepped down as chief executive officer of Microsoft in January 2000 , but he remained as chairman and created the position of chief software architect for himself . In June 2006 , Gates announced that he would be transitioning from full-time work at Microsoft to part-time work and full-time work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation .