Show -- Gates has softened in the last few years but he also has become more focused about what matters to him: Bill i C C WILL WORK (IINIK BY LYRIC BOY ECHNOLOGY'S wonder has grown up It is not simply that his red hair has faded or that his face has gone soft with middle age The Bill Gates whom I met this winter was a very different man from the one who first greeted me at Microsoft ml nearly seven years ago Yes Gates still rocks up and down as he talks and he still uses teenage-styl- e words like“things-- ’ “super” and “stuff" But in 1995 Gates might easily have been called the most confident man in America Microsoft's Windows 95 software would soon make him a household name and he had an almost boundless optimism in the power of technology especially computing to change allnur lives “Any specific goals I’ve set for 40 ' I’ve achieved” he told me then Today at 46 Gates does not rattle off a list of goals to reach by 50 He simply ' has “some advances” that he expects to see in business and medicine Then he adds “With the kids' we just take each year at a time and I hope everybody’s still superhealthy then“-Thi-s underscores three profound changes in Bill Gates’ life: In die last seven yearshe has become a father to Jennifer 5 and Rory 2 he and Microsoft have been die focus pf a massive antitrust lawsuit and Gates has become die largest private philanthropist in the world Like him or loathe him Gates remains an object of intense fascination a man whodominates our image of the : Information Age Gates and I sat down on a gray damp morning— the kind where despite Seattle’s 1990s hoom you can still COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY EDDIE ADAMS - r J “You have to be careful about confidence” says Unman mho took confidence to new hearts “Wre going to make mistakes” TH3 ) V id r' Yl?- - wgr imagine s band of Suquamish Indians emerging from die thick pine groves with a canoe or totem pole We talked about his life now and what he envisions for die fiiture Gates has die same rather sparse office but he is no longer Micro- soft’s CEO His title U Chief Software Architect giving him a greater role in product designand development The change does not seem purely cosmetic Gates is much more focused than he was in 1995 He does not drift off into tangents or pull famous physics offhisbookshelfSoftwarefam- and ly philanthropy drive his life lec-mr- e$ " tS " t mt wtthiaa " r V S utitir bilNdn Tha BH ft MaRnda Oataa FtaNhUoii In the targoatbi history Itto run by BIN Sr (r) andPatty StonooHar (third from loft) a farmer Mieroooft VP Gates stUI can be confrontational and does not shy awayfrom using hisfor-midable intelligence to humble anyone in dm room He remains passionate and - driven a fierce business competitor and at times funny But he’s also decidedly more subdued Just listen to his thoughts on where he gets his confidence:! dunk MW MARCH IQt 1001 aMIM0K MMAZNp a- |