Bill Gates

Photo: Bogdan Hoyaux / European Union / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (license)

Exclude estimates · Suggest a correction or a claim

Bill Gates’s counted impact is $2.63 billion in economic losses, and also 31,396 jobs created.

Counted totals by category

Each category is totalled in its own unit; units are never added together.

Category	Unit	Positive	Negative	Net
economy	EUR-2004	0	-497 million	-497 million
economy	EUR-2008	0	-860 million	-860 million
economy	EUR-2013	0	-561 million	-561 million
jobs	jobs	+31,396	0	+31,396

Overall score 13 (average tab position, 100 = 1st), from Jobs #16, Economy #13

Influence (reach, not impact): Wikipedia articles in 180 languages (Wikidata, as of 2026-10-18); 2.51 million English Wikipedia page views, 2025-10-01 to 2026-09-30. Not counted in the score.

Counted entries

Approved claims with 2 trusted sources; these drive the totals (counted = scale × credit share).

Positive

Claim	Sources	Scale	Credit	Counted
Microsoft (Gates co-founder, chairman and CEO) employed 31,396 people full-time at 30 Jun 1999 (Form 10-K FY1999)	sec.gov + sec.gov As of June 30, 1999, the Company employed 31,396 people on a full-time basis, 21,802 in the United States and 9,594 internationally. + sec.gov Gates co-founded Microsoft in 1975 and has been its Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer since the original partnership was incorporated in 1981	31,396	Organization	31,396

Negative

Claim	Sources	Scale	Credit	Counted
European Commission (24 Mar 2004): Microsoft fined EUR 497 million for abuse of dominance; upheld in full by Court of First Instance (T-201/04, 17 Sep 2007)	ec.europa.eu + ec.europa.eu Microsoft is fined EUR 497 million for abusing its market power in the EU. + ec.europa.eu ruling by the Court of First Instance upholding the European Commission's 2004 decision ... and confirming the totality of the fine imposed + news.microsoft.com Bill Gates, previously Chairman of the Board of Directors, will assume a new role on the Board as Founder and Technology Advisor [4 Feb 2014]	497 million	Organization Official finding upheld by court. Microsoft credited alone; Gates chairman (to 4 Feb 2014, per Microsoft).	497 million
European Commission periodic penalty (27 Feb 2008) on Microsoft for non-compliance with the 2004 decision; reduced by the General Court (T-167/08, 27 Jun 2012) to EUR 860 million	curia.europa.eu + ec.europa.eu Commission imposes EUR 899 million penalty on Microsoft for non-compliance with March 2004 Decision + curia.europa.eu the Court has reduced the amount of the periodic penalty payment from EUR 899 million to EUR 860 million + news.microsoft.com Bill Gates, previously Chairman of the Board of Directors, will assume a new role on the Board as Founder and Technology Advisor [4 Feb 2014]	860 million	Organization Court-reduced (lowest) amount. Gates chairman in 2008.	860 million
European Commission (6 Mar 2013): Microsoft fined EUR 561 million for breaking its browser-choice-screen commitments	ec.europa.eu + ec.europa.eu The European Commission has imposed a EUR 561 million fine on Microsoft for failing to comply with its commitments to offer users a browser choice screen + bbc.com The EU's competition regulator fines Microsoft 561m euros ($731m; £484m) + news.microsoft.com Bill Gates, previously Chairman of the Board of Directors, will assume a new role on the Board as Founder and Technology Advisor [4 Feb 2014]	561 million	Organization Official finding; no reversal found. Gates chairman in 2013.	561 million

Not counted / unproven

Unproven or rejected claims. They are shown for transparency and do not affect the totals.

Not counted, positive

Claim	Sources	Scale	Status
Gates Foundation share of Gavi vaccine-alliance lives saved (19.3% of Gavi donor contributions 2000-Mar 2021)	academic.oup.com + academic.oup.com Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation \| 4,051 \| 19.3 [% of total donor contributions to Gavi, 2000-March 2021]	0	unproven

Not counted, negative

Claim	Sources	Scale	Status
None.