is the American co-founder, along with childhood friend Paul Allen, of Microsoft Corporation, the world's largest for software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. While he was a student at Harvard, he co-authored, with Paul Allen, the original Altair BASIC interpreter for the Altair 8800, the first commercially successful personal computer. During his junior year, Gates left Harvard to devote his energies to Microsoft, a company he started in 1975. Microsoft has since grown to generate revenues of US$32 billion and has employed more than 55,000 people in 85 countries and regions. He and his wife, Melinda endowed a foundation with more than $24 billion to support philanthropic initiatives in the areas of global health, learning, and Internet access to developing nations. In June 1999, Gates and his wife donated $5 billion to their foundation, the largest single donation ever by living individuals.