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TVI's
PERSON OF THE
WEEK
1305
- / Barry
Diller
1305
- / Paul
Allen
1305
- / Barry
Diller
1205
- / Steve
Jobs
1105
- / Bill
Gates
1005
- / Bill
Gates
0905
- / Jeff Bizos,
Amazon.com
0805
- / Rupert Murdoch,
NewsCorp.
0705
- / Sergey Brin, Google, Co-Founder
0605
- / Larry Page, Google, Co-Founder
0505
- / Larry Page, Google, Co-Founder
0405
- / Sergey Brin, Google, Co-Founder
0305
- / Oprah Winfrey
0205
- / Quincy Jones
0105
- / NBS100 Smart90
5204
- / Donald Trump,
U.S.A.
5004
- / Jeff Bezos,
U.S.A.
4904
- / Josie
Cory,
U.S.A
4804
- / Rupert
Murdoch,
U.S.A.
4704
- / Silvio
Berlusconi,
Italy
4604
- / Ma Yuzhen, China
4504
- / Rod
Stewart, U.S.A
4404
- / Sir Richard
Branson
4304
- / Bill
Gates
4204
- / Paul
Allen
4104
- / Sam
Donaldson
4004
- Nathan B. Stubblefield
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Feature
Story
Bill
Gates Is Voted -- Forbes' Richest Billionaire.
March 10, 2005 - Other Top Richest men in
the world are Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, were
Google Inc. co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page,
in the No. 55, their net worth growing to $7.2
billion each after the company's initial public
stock offering in August. All are past TVI
Magagzine's Person of the Week winners.
The
billionaires are richer and more numerous for the
second straight year, but the No. 1 spot is
unchanged: Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates
led the list for the 11th year in a row with a net
worth of $46.5 billion, slightly less than his
$46.6 billion last year.
Investor Warren E. Buffett
held on to second place with $44 billion, up from
$42.9 billion in 2004.
Mittal climbed 59 rungs to No.
3 this year after his net worth grew by $18.8
billion to $25 billion. His gain in wealth was the
largest among those on the
list.
Slim came in fourth, up from
No. 17 in 2004; Saudi Arabian investor Prince
Alwaleed bin Talal ranked No. 5; and Kamprad rose
to No. 6 from No. 13 last
year.
Rounding out the top 10 were
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen; German supermarket
company owner Karl Albrecht; Oracle Corp. Chief
Executive Larry Ellison, returning to the top 10
after slipping to No. 12 last year; and Wal-Mart
Chairman S. Robson Walton. Four other Waltons took
spots 11 through 13, with Alice and Helen Walton
again sharing the title of richest woman in the
world with $18 billion
each.
Martha Stewart joins the ranks of
billionaires Thanks to a surge in demand for steel,
Internet access and Scandinavian sofas, there are
some new names among the richest of the world's
billionaires. Indian steel mogul Lakshmi Mittal,
Mexican telecommunications magnate Carlos Slim and
IKEA founder...
Among the big winners was two
TVI Magazines Person of the Week winners: Google
Inc. co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who
made their first appearance on the list last year
with $1 billion each. Both jumped nearly 500 spots
to No. 55, their net worth growing to $7.2 billion
each after the company's initial public stock
offering in August. At 31 and 32 years of age
respectively, Brin and Page are two of only 29
billionaires under 40, but youngest-billionaire
crown went to Germany's 21-year-old Albert von
Thurn und Taxis, with $2
billion.
Thanks to a surge in demand
for steel, Internet access and Scandinavian sofas,
there are some new names among the richest of the
world's billionaires.
Indian steel mogul Lakshmi
Mittal, Mexican telecommunications magnate Carlos
Slim and IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad of Sweden
knocked several Wal-Mart Stores Inc. heirs down a
few notches on Forbes magazine's 2005 rankings of
the world's billionaires.
The number of billionaires
grew to a record 691 from 587 last year, and their
total net worth rose by $300 billion to $2.2
trillion.
One of this year's 131 new
billionaires -- and one of the list's 68 women, up
from 53 last year -- was Martha Stewart, whose
wealth swelled to $1 billion despite her conviction
for lying about a stock sale and the ensuing
five-month prison stint.
Jail time was harder on the
fortune of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former CEO of
Russia's Yukos Oil Co. Khodorkovsky, who is facing
charges of fraud and tax evasion, had the biggest
loss in wealth. His net worth tumbled 85% to $2.2
billion.
Not counting the 14
billionaires who died since February 2004, only 30
people dropped off the list from 2004, including
five of Khodorkovsky's colleagues and hotel heir
Robert Pritzker.
Forbes senior editor Pete
Newcomb said the rankings were compiled using the
Feb. 11 closing price of publicly traded stock
owned by the billionaires. In the case of private
companies, Forbes looked at comparable companies in
the same industries in order to determine a value
of a billionaire's holdings. For real estate
holdings, the magazine valued properties according
to square footage, and subtracted any debt from a
property's estimated worth.
102 BillGates is Knighted /
March 3, 2005 - Bill Gates recieve an horary
knighthood from Queen Eliztbeth at Buckingham
Palace. The Microsoft chirman was honored for his
charitable activities and his contribution to
technolgy to Britain. Gates is entitles to add KBE
-- Knight Commander of the British Empire -- after
his name. Besides being the world's richest man,
Microsoft's Bill Gates Wednesday added another
title to his name when he was knighted by British
Queen Elizabeth II.
As a U.S. citizen, the 48-year-old Gates may not
use the title "Sir," but can put the letters KBE
(Knight Commander of the Order of the
BritishEmpire) after his name, the BBC
reported.Gates said he considers it a great honor
to be recognized for his business skills and for
his work in poverty reduction, the BBC said. After
a private audience with the Queen, Gates said the
British monarch discussed computers with him. Gates
was joined at Buckingham Palace by wife Melinda.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is currently
working on a global health program in the
developing world.
Appeals Court
Reverses Parts of Patent Ruling Against
Microsoft
A federal appeals court reversed a
$521-million patent ruling against Microsoft Corp.
on Wednesday, giving the world's largest software
maker another chance to prove that its widely used
Web browser didn't illegally copy a key piece of
technology..
A
federal appeals court reversed a $521-million
patent ruling against Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday,
giving the world's largest software maker another
chance to prove that its widely used Web browser
didn't illegally copy a key piece of
technology.
Microsoft hailed the 29-page decision by the
U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. -- which
also ordered a new trial -- as a "clear victory"
for Internet users as well as the company.
Wednesday's ruling also upheld portions of
the lower court decision.
Martin
Lueck, a Minneapolis attorney representing patent
holders Eolas Technologies Inc. and the University
of California, predicted Microsoft ultimately would
have to pay the jury award plus interest. "We
believe we will prevail on this issue as we have
throughout this process," Lueck said.
The
complicated case revolves around the computer
coding that enables a variety of software
applications to work seamlessly with Web
browsers.
Eolas'
founder, cellular biologist Michael Doyle, says he
invented the technology while he was working at the
University of California more than a decade ago and
then watched Microsoft capitalize on the
breakthrough by including the features in its
Internet Explorer browser. Microsoft has denied the
allegations, first made in a lawsuit filed by Eolas
and UC in 1999.
Doyle
and the university filed for their patent in 1994,
a year before Microsoft's Internet Explorer hit the
market.
Doyle
and the university alleged that the browser
pilfered their patented plug-in technology. A jury
agreed in 2003, ordering Microsoft to pay $521
million, or $1.47 for each of the more than 350
million units of the Windows operating system that
shipped from November 1998 to September 2001.
A
federal judge in Chicago upheld the jury award last
year and ordered Microsoft to pay $45 million in
interest.
In its
decision, the appeals court concluded the lower
court had erred in its approach to a key issue in
the case. Microsoft contends the Eolas patent is
invalid because the technology had already been
developed and showcased in a May 1993 demonstration
by another inventor, Pei-Yuan Wei.
Microsoft's shares fell 2 cents Wednesday to
$25.26 on Nasdaq.
///
About:
William H. Gates, (Bill Gates) - Chairman and
Chief Software Architect Microsoft
Corporation
-----William
(Bill) H. Gates is chairman and chief software
architect of Microsoft Corporation, the worldwide
leader in software, services and Internet
technologies for personal and business computing.
Microsoft had revenues of US$36.84 billion for the
fiscal year ending June 2004, and employs more than
55,000 people in 85 countries and regions.
-----Born
on Oct. 28, 1955, Gates grew up in Seattle with his
two sisters. Their father, William H. Gates II, is
a Seattle attorney. Their late mother, Mary Gates,
was a schoolteacher, University of Washington
regent, and chairwoman of United Way
International.
-----Gates
attended public elementary school and the private
Lakeside School. There, he discovered his interest
in software and began programming computers at age
13
-----In
1973, Gates entered Harvard University as a
freshman, where he lived down the hall from Steve
Ballmer, now Microsoft's chief executive officer.
While at Harvard, Gates developed a version of the
programming language BASIC for the first
microcomputer - the MITS Altair.
-----Top
row: Steve Wood (left), Bob Wallace, Jim Lane.
Middle row: Bob O'Rear, Bob Greenberg, Marc
McDonald, Gordon Letwin. Bottom row: Bill Gates,
Andrea Lewis, Marla Wood, Paul Allen. December 7,
1978.
-----In
his junior year, Gates left Harvard to devote his
energies to Microsoft, a company he had begun in
1975 with his childhood friend Paul Allen. Guided
by a belief that the computer would be a valuable
tool on every office desktop and in every home,
they began developing software for personal
computers. Gates' foresight and his vision for
personal computing have been central to the success
of Microsoft and the software industry.
-----Under
Gates' leadership, Microsoft's mission has been to
continually advance and improve software
technology, and to make it easier, more
cost-effective and more enjoyable for people to use
computers. The company is committed to a long-term
view, reflected in its investment of approximately
$6.2 billion on research and development in the
2005 fiscal year.
-----In
1999, Gates wrote Business @ the Speed of Thought,
a book that shows how computer technology can solve
business problems in fundamentally new ways. The
book was published in 25 languages and is available
in more than 60 countries. Business @ the Speed of
Thought has received wide critical acclaim, and was
listed on the best-seller lists of the New York
Times, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and
Amazon.com. Gates' previous book, The Road Ahead,
published in 1995, held the No. 1 spot on the New
York Times' bestseller list for seven weeks.
-----Gates
has donated the proceeds of both books to
non-profit organizations that support the use of
technology in education and skills development.
-----In
addition to his love of computers and software,
Gates is interested in biotechnology. He sits on
the board of ICOS, a company that specializes in
protein-based and small-molecule therapeutics, and
he is an investor in a number of other
biotechnology companies. Gates also founded Corbis,
which is developing one of the world's largest
resources of visual information - a comprehensive
digital archive of art and photography from public
and private collections around the globe.
-----Philanthropy
is also important to Gates. He and his wife,
Melinda, have endowed a foundation with more than
$27 billion (as of March 2004) to support
philanthropic initiatives in the areas of global
health and learning, with the hope that in the 21st
century, advances in these critical areas will be
available for all people. The Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation has committed more than $3.2
billion to organizations working in global health;
more than $2 billion to improve learning
opportunities, including the Gates Library
Initiative to bring computers, Internet Access and
training to public libraries in low-income
communities in the United States and Canada; more
than $477 million to community projects in the
Pacific Northwest; and more than $488 million to
special projects and annual giving campaigns.
-----Gates
was married on Jan. 1, 1994, to Melinda French
Gates. They have three children. Gates is an avid
reader, and enjoys playing golf and
bridge.
The
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to
promote greater equity in four areas: global
health, education, public libraries, and support
for at-risk families in Washington state and
Oregon. The Seattle-based foundation joins local,
national, and international partners to ensure that
advances in these areas reach those who need them
most. The foundation is led by Bill Gates's father,
William H. Gates, Sr., and Patty Stonesifer.
Center
Page / Bill Gates and
China
Gates Visit
to China Highlights Cooperation with Government,
Academia, Local Industry Partners
-----
MICROSOFT - chairman Bill Gates began his
fourth visit to China in three years, where he will
open up computer classrooms in Chinese
schools.
-----Although
he is primarily there to open up the classrooms, he
will also be trying to stir up some love for
Microsoft &endash; competitors are acting very
aggressively in the Chinese software market. The
Chinese government has shown that it is willing to
try out and incorporate a number of different
software systems, including Windows arch-nemesis
Linux.
-----Microsoft
probably has reason to be worried. Chinese
companies and its government are finding Linux more
appealing by the day, as it's such a low-cost
alternative. Linux isn't the only cause for
concern, though &endash; Chinese "homegrown"
software poses a major threat
too.
-----Last
weekend, Microsoft apparently signed a deal with
Changhong to cooperate in the multimedia market.
The <I>Taipei Times</I> reports that
Chinese media reckons Microsoft will soon announce
a global partnership with IT distributor and
software company Digital
China.
-----Microsoft
reckons its Chinese branch is the most organised of
its structures outside of the US, including joint
ventures, research, support, and marketing
facilities. Tim Chen, Microsoft vice-president and
executive of China, Taiwan and Hong Kong operations
allegedly told the <I>China Daily</I>
"our core strategy is to implement a unified
strategy, get rooted in China and grow with the
local economy and software industry."
2004 / Bill
Gates' charity wins $100 million
China
SHANGHAI, Sept 4 (Reuters) - A charitable body
set up by Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates has
won approval to invest $100 million in China's main
stock and debt markets, regulators said on
Saturday.
-----The
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is only the
17th institution allowed to trade in China's $500
billion stock markets under a Qualified Foreign
Institutional Investor (QFII) programme, intended
to attract big names on to fledgling
bourses.
-----The
State Administration of Foreign Exchange announced
the foundation's quota -- the final obstacle to
actual investment -- on its Web site
(www.safe.gov.cn)
-----The
philanthropic organisation set up by Gates and his
wife, which paid out grants totalling $1.182
billion in 2003, has an endowment of about $27
billion, its Web site, www.gatesfoundation.org,
said.
-----It
supports the global fight against AIDS, malaria and
other diseases, among other
things.
-----Launched
in 2002, QFII offers foreign investors the option
of riding Chinese corporate growth by buying
directly into a wide range of mainland-listed
companies.
-----Before
QFII, foreign investors were confined to the tiny,
moribund hard-currency B-share markets and barred
from the main, yuan-denominated A-share
markets.
-----Chinese
regulators have granted approval for 16 other
firms, including Credit Suisse First Bosto, to
trade A-shares in more than 1,300 companies, as
well as Treasuries and corporate
bonds.
-----So
far, 15 foreign investors are known to have won
quotas to invest up to $1.95 billion collectively,
including Merrill Lynch
-----Beijing
hopes that more foreign institutional investors
would stabilise notoriously speculative markets,
and bring expertise to the country's unruly
securities and asset management sectors.///
Related:Chinese premier emphasizes int'l
cooperation on software development Customer needs
are vital to Microsoft, says Bill Gates Bill Gates
in Asia to promote Windows systemGates may join
bloggers Gates to fund technology centres in
Australia Bill Gates to visit China Bill Gates,
chairman of Microsoft Corp., addresses the opening
ceremony of China International Service Industries
Convention& Expo in the Great Hall of the
People in Beijing June 30, 2004.(Xinhua
Photo)
-----2003
BEIJING, Feb. 28, 2003 -</b> Microsoft
Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates
today concluded a two-day visit to China during
which the company, agencies of the Chinese
government and local technology leaders agreed on
several initiatives that will reinforce Microsoft's
long-term commitment to the region and to support
of the Chinese software industry.
-----
"Microsoft is very pleased to be partnering
with the Chinese government and industry to develop
its software industry," said Gates. "Building on a
strong base of talent and skills in its software
sector, the momentum of Chinese enterprises in the
use of information technologies, and strong
government support, China has great potential to
realize its potential as a global leader in
software."
-----During
his stay, Gates met with Chinese President Jiang
Zemin and announced the Chinese government's
participation in Microsoft's Government Security
Program, which provides national governments with
access to Windows source code and technical
information they need to be confident in the
security of the Windows platform.
-----
Microsoft and the Beijing municipal
government also signed a Memorandum of
Understanding in which the two organizations agreed
to work with local software companies for the
development and servicing of these e-government
solutions and training of software professionals.
-----
Gates announced strategic partnerships with
several Chinese enterprise customers, including Xi
Ji Group, The Industrial and Commercial Bank of
China (ICBC), Petro China and China United
Telecommuncations Corp. (China Unicom). He also met
with local partners, developers, and members of the
academic community during the visit.
Government
Security Program, MOU Agreements
Signal Microsoft's Long-Term
Commitment
-----China
joined Russia, the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization and the United Kingdom yesterday when
it became the fourth government organization to
sign on to Microsoft's Government Security Program
(GSP), which gives governments access to Windows
source code and technical information. Representing
the China government, the China Information
Technology Security Certification Center (CNITSEC)
signed an agreement with Microsoft at the State
Development & Planning Commission (SDPC) office
to participate in the new GSP. Wang Chunzheng, Vice
Chairman of the SDPC presided over the signing
ceremony. Gates briefed Chinese President Jiang
Zemin on the GSP agreement during today's reception
of Gates by the President.
-----
The Government Security Program is tailored
to the specialized security requirements of
governments. The program is a no-fee initiative
that provides program participants the ability to
review Windows source code using a smart-card-based
secure online access and subject to certain license
restrictions.
-----"It's
part of the commitment to make sure that
governments and industry are working together in
the best possible way," said
Gates.
-----Microsoft
is in discussions with more than 30 countries,
territories and organizations regarding their
interest in the program.
-----Microsoft
also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the
Beijing Municipal Government, represented by
Beijing Municipal Committee of Science and
Technology, to work together on local software
training and the development of e-government
solutions. The agreement included Microsoft's
commitment to provide US$2.2 million over the next
five years to establish an additional Microsoft
technology facility in Beijing. This is the first
Microsoft Lab in China solely dedicated to
supporting technical innovation for China's PC and
device manufactures.
China
Corporations, Industry Partners Building Solutions
on .NET
-----Gates
met with enterprise customers - the Industrial and
Commercial Bank of China, Petro China, China United
Telecommunications Corp., and Xi Ji Group - during
his visit. Gates and the respective company leaders
announced plans to work together to help the
companies use Microsoft's .NET technology to expand
their mission-critical
infrastructure.
-----Gates
also gave a keynote at an Independent Software
Vendors (ISV) Summit in Beijing. Over 600 ISVs
attended and heard Gates share Microsoft's vision
on .NET technologies, as well as recent Trustworthy
Computing efforts to improve security in Microsoft
products, and the pending launch of Windows Server
2003. Gates emphasized Microsoft's commitment to
supporting the ISVs in their efforts to develop
reliable IT solutions for enterprise customers and
China's e-government initiative. The summit
included demonstrations of .NET-based solutions
from several local partners.
China's
Academia Show off Innovative .NET
Solutions
-----Gates
addressed leaders of the academic, student and
developer communities about the future of computing
during the Next Generation Technology Forum, a
conference attended by 2,000 developers and 6,000
students. During the talk, Gates presented awards
to the winning teams of the Asia Student .NET
competition. The winning team was from Singapore,
and the three other finalists were from Taiwan, the
People's Republic of China and India.
-----
Now in its second year, the competition
provides an opportunity for local students who are
passionate about computer science to showcase their
innovations and programming skills developing XML
Web Services using Visual Studio .NET. This year's
competition attracted about 15,000 students who
participated through almost 3,000 teams,
representing eleven Asia Pacific countries and
territories. Students from all four winning teams
will be hosted by Microsoft to attend the upcoming
Microsoft TechEd Conference in Barcelona, and they
will be able to participate to the first Worldwide
Student .NET Competition.
-----
Gates also spoke to 100 deans and other
academics from prominent Chinese universities at
the Dean's Summit held in Beijing and organized by
Microsoft Research Asia and the Ministry of
Education. Gates discussed the opportunities
Microsoft has to work with China's academia to
develop ground-breaking research and world-class IT
talent.
-----Microsoft
opened its first offices in China in 1992. The MSR
Asia research facility opened in Beijing in 1998,
and now employs about 120 full-time research staff
and over 200 visiting scientists and students from
China and around the world. Opened in 1995, the
Microsoft China R&D Center in Beijing employs
more than 150 employees; it is one of the largest
foreign-owned software R&D centers in China.
The Microsoft Global Technical Support Center in
Shanghai employs over 400 persons to support
customers worldwide.
-----
Microsoft Community Affairs has also been
active in China, working with local government
agencies, schools and non-profit organizations. In
1999, they helped start the IT Training for
Laid-off Workers program. After finding initial
success through an early trial program in Dalian,
the program has since expanded to three other
cities - Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Shanghai in
cooperation with local governments. In just over
two years, the programs have trained over 600
unemployed workers, and nearly 80 percent have
since found new positions in the IT industry.
Contact For
Gates Foundation Awards Libraries in Denmark and
China for Providing Free Information Technology to
Underserved Communities
Roger Nyhus
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Phone: 206.709.3400
Email: media@gatesfoundation.org
Alice Bishop
Council on Library and Information Resources
Phone: 202.939.4763
Email: abishop@clir.org
-----
The China Evergreen Rural Library Service
Center is addressing the tremendous need for access
to information resources in three of China's
western and one of its northern provinces, where
poverty and illiteracy abound. Evergreen works with
public high schools to develop and computerize
library collections, create computer labs that are
open to the entire community, and offer training
workshops to students, teachers, librarians and the
public. Residents in rural China typically do not
have access to such
facilities.
-----
"Much of rural China is without any access
to information technology. We work with local
officials to help public schools become technology
centers for the entire community," said Dunzhi Liu,
director of the China Evergreen Rural Library
Service Center. "With this award, we plan to help
more high school libraries create computer labs and
allow libraries to share resources and information.
We also hope to leverage the award to obtain
increased support from local communities and the
Ministry of Education."
-----"It
just goes to show you,", says TVI Magazine --
"NOTHING IN THIS WORLD IS PERMANENT" . . .
so follow the
money -
- and
take some advice from a dinner-time chat with
"Stonehead" --
Disappointments Are Great! Follow
the Money . . . the Internet and the Smart- Daaf
Boys.
///
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Submitted
Josie
Cory
Publisher/Editor
TVI Magazine
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