5 Most Influential Entrepreneurs in America

3. Bill Gates

Net Worth: $120.4 billion

Social Media Following: 53.3 million followers(Twitter), 36 million followers(Facebook)

   Bill Gates cofounded Microsoft Corporation with his childhood friend, Paul Allen. In 1980, Microsoft created the MS-DOS operating system that was used to run the first microcomputer produced by IBM. It became the leading operating system and was used by almost all personal computers. Bill and Melinda Gates have given $45.5 billion to charitable causes, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. In 2019 alone, Gates donated $589 million to charity.

In 1990, Microsoft released another successful product, Microsoft Office, which is still in use today. Recently, Microsoft has decided to partner with Volkswagen to develop a Cloud-based Automated Driving platform on Microsoft Azure .The Bill & Melinda Foundation, a charity foundation, is the largest private charitable organization in the world. It has donated over $40 billion to many health, and global education initiatives. In 2016, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2006, he was presented the James C Morgan Global Humanitarian Award from Tech Awards.