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William Henry "Bill" Gates III, born October 28, 1955, is an American business magnate and philanthropist. Gates is the former chief executive and current chairman of Microsoft, the world’s largest personal-computer software company, which he co-founded with Paul Allen. He is consistently ranked among the world's wealthiest people and was the wealthiest overall from 1995 to 2009, excluding 2008, when he was ranked third; in 2011 he was the wealthiest American and the second wealthiest person. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of CEO and chief software architect, and remains the largest individual shareholder, with 6.4 percent of the common stock. He has also authored or co-authored several books. Gates is one of the best-known entrepreneurs of the personal computer revolution. Gates has been criticized for his business tactics, which have been considered anti-competitive, an opinion which has in some cases been upheld by the courts. In th...

Nokia has joined forces with Microsoft in an attempt to regain ground lost to the iPhone and Android-based devices. The deal will see Nokia use the Windows phone operating system for its smartphones, the company said. It means that Nokia's existing operating systems will be sidelined. Speaking at the launch of the partnership, Nokia's chief executive Stephen Elop revealed that there would be "substantial" job losses as a result of the tie-up. Nokia will remain "first and foremost...a Finnish company. Finland is our home and will remain our home," he said. But job losses around the world, including in Finland, will be inevitable, he added. Speaking about the new partnership with Microsoft, Mr Elop said that "the game has changed from a battle of devices to a war of ecosystems". "An ecosystem with Microsoft and Nokia has unrivalled scale around the globe," he said. Microsoft's chief executive Steve Ballmer was also present at t...

Microsoft said on Thursday that its new videogame "Halo: Reach" had racked up $200 million in sales on its launch day, boding well for the November debut of the Xbox 360 console maker's new gaming system. "Halo: Reach" is the latest version of the blockbuster "Halo" game series and went on sale this week. The franchise has sold more than 34 million copies in the nine years since its debut, boosting the popularity of Microsoft's Xbox console. "That's more than any game, any movie, any entertainment experience that was launched in 2010," Phil Spencer, vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, told the audience at the Tokyo Game Show about the "Halo: Reach" debut. He added that the "Halo: Reach" launch had also helped lure millions of gamers to Microsoft's online game system Xbox Live. The "Halo" series has grossed nearly $2 billion in sales over its lifetime. The game is made by Bungie and Microsoft...