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He is ranked consistently one of the world's wealthiest people and the second wealthiest overall as of 2009.

During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of CEO and chief software architect, and remains the largest individual shareholder with more than 8 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. Although he is admired by many, a number of industry insiders criticize his business tactics, which they consider anti-competitive, an opinion which has in some cases been upheld by the courts (see Criticism of Microsoft). In the later stages of his career, Gates has pursued a number of philanthropic endeavors, donating large amounts of money to various charitable organizations and scientific research programs through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, established in 2000.

Bill Gates stepped down as chief executive officer of Microsoft in January, 2000. He remained as chairman and created the position of chief software architect. In June, 2006, Gates announced that he would be transitioning from full-time work at Microsoft to part-time work and full-time work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The statistics are sobering: Approximately 1 billion people live in chronic hunger, and more than 1 billion live in extreme poverty. Yet we are convinced that hunger and poverty are solvable problems. Progress—on a large scale—is possible.

We’ve picked a few areas of focus where we think we can have the greatest impact, and we have spent the past few years developing and beginning to execute on our strategies for these areas.

In this regard, 2008 was a year of significant progress for us. We now have strong teams and solid strategies in place for each of the four areas we’ve chosen: Agricultural Development, Financial Services for the Poor, Policy and Advocacy, and Special Initiatives. Each of these initiatives makes grants to attack the major causes of hunger and poverty at their root.

Still, unquestionably, 2008 was a year of painful setbacks in the broader view of hunger and poverty—and for the people our program aims to serve. A food security crisis pushed millions of people deeper into hunger and poverty. And the global financial crisis threatens to slow growth in developing countries and to cut into aid budgets in developed countries.

We believe 2008 will be remembered as a turning point in the world’s efforts to address hunger and poverty. We are committed to helping ensure that the challenges of the past year strengthen, and not weaken, the world’s resolve to solve them.

On the following pages are a few examples of how we’re working to help people in developing countries overcome hunger and poverty and why we’re optimistic about what we can achieve together with the many partners who share our passion for this cause.

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