Bill Gates, 1999 News

44, Microsoft chairman, in September pledged $1 billion to send about 1,000 minorities to college. The scholarships will be distributed over the next 20 years to black, Hispanic, Native American, and Asian students who plan to pursue degrees in engineering, math, science, and education. He was in the news again in November, when Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, the judge presiding over the government's antitrust case against Microsoft, said the company was indeed a monopoly. In his findings of fact, Jackson said the software giant exercises monopoly control over PC operating systems and uses its power to the detriment of consumers.