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Tuesday, April 21, 1998 Microsoft's Bill Gates becomes first billionaire
times 50 By GREG HEBERLEIN The Seattle Times SEATTLE - Bill Gates, 42, on Monday became the world's first
$50 billionaire, at least based on his Microsoft holdings. With 535.8 million shares, about a quarter of Microsoft, Gates
needed a price exceeding $93.32 to reach $50 billion. The stock
traded above $94 virtually all day and closed at $94.625, up $2.50. Last year, the Microsoft chief executive became the world's
richest person when he passed the Sultan of Brunei. Gates, of course, has investments other than his Microsoft
stock, but they pale in comparison. For example, as the No. 1 shareholder in Icos, a Bothell, Wash.,
biotech, he owns 13 percent, or about $70 million worth of stock. Gates also is a significant investor in Teledesic, a developmental
satellite system, and his Corbis photographic service. But neither
is publicly traded. Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975. First shares
for the public were sold in 1986. To make the original $21 share comparable to today's price
of more than $90, it would be adjusted by seven stock splits (five
2-for-1s and two 3-for-2s). That would make the original price
29 cents a share. Put another way, 100 shares purchased for the original $2,100
now equal 7,200 shares worth $681,130. Gates became a billionaire in 1987 and hit $40 billion last
July.
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Scripps Co. and the Abilene Reporter-News.
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