[tps_title]10. Bill Gates[/tps_title]
No profile of the world’s prodigious wealth creators would be complete without Bill Gates. After dropping out of the nation’s top-ranked university (Harvard. because he “just couldn’t bring himself to go to class”, Gates ambitiously founded Microsoft with partner Paul Allen. The company originally set out to sell computer programming languages, but soon veered very far (and very profitably. off of that path. Instead, Microsoft created the now-ubiquitous Windows operating system that powers 90% of the world’s personal computers. Gates officially retired from Microsoft in 2008, exiting with a net worth of $58 billion and 3rd place on Forbes’ 100 Wealthiest People list.
