IMPATIENT OPTIMIST
Recognized by most as an ingenious visionary, and painted by some as a tyrannical, less-than-scrupulous empire builder, Gates has had an unignorable impact on the growth of digital technology in daily life over the past 30 years. Even his sharpest critics have to acknowledge the obvious: Gates helped spearhead one of the greatest revolutions in modern history by seizing on the importance of software to the rise of the personal computer, along the way turning an arcane, specialized technology into a commonplace tool for the office and home. Gates has long been ranked as one of the world's wealthiest men, which gave him a name recognition far greater than that of most CEOs and businesspeople of all stripes have looked to him as a role model, using his words and business strategies to help create, inspire, and grow their own companies. After he stopped running Microsoft's day-to-day operations in 2008 to devote himself full-time to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a kinder, gentler Gates began to emerge. As a result, people actively involved in the philanthropic world, whether in professional, part-time, or personal capacities, began to develop a new appreciation for the man.