Bill Gates to visit Bucharest

William Henry Gates III, chairman and founder of the world’s largest software producer Microsoft will visit Romania for the first time in early February, company officials have confirmed. The schedule of the visit remains confidential, but sources on the market say that the arrival of Bill Gates will mark the launch of the new Windows Vista programme on the domestic market, as Gates’ visit coincides with the anticipated release of Windows Vista, which is planned for February. Bill Gates may also visit the Centre for Technical Support that serves clients in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, as this is one of Microsoft’s most significant investments on the Romanian market. Meetings with high-ranking Romanian officials are also pencilled in. Microsoft derived turnover topping 44 billion dollars last year. Bill Gates will resign as chairman sometime during the next few years, in order to focus on the development of the health foundation he and his wife Melinda are running. Regarded as the richest man in the world, with a fortune standing at some 50 billion dollars, Gates has announced that he intends to leave only a small part of this sum to his children, while the remaining money will be mainly used for charities.