Robert W. Sarnoff

Born: 7/2/1918
Birthplace: New York City

Son of David Sarnoff, a pioneer in radio and television who had organized NBC in 1926, Robert W. Sarnoff was groomed to succeed his father at the helm of both RCA (Radio Corporation of America) and NBC.

In 1956 he became president of NBC and in 1965, president of RCA. Under his leadership TV became racially integrated when he supported Nat King Cole's variety show and Bill Cosby's role in I Spy. The first presidential debate was televised during Sarnoff's tenure. He became chairman of RCA in 1970 and diversified the company; he was ousted in 1975.
Died: 2/22/1997

Rupert Murdoch

Born: 11 March 1931
Birthplace: Melbourne, Australia
Best known as: The power behind the News Corp. media empire

Name at birth: Keith Rupert Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch inherited a small Australian newspaper in 1952 and aggressively turned it into one of the biggest media corporations in the world, News Corp., a conglomerate that includes television, feature films, online services, newspapers and books.

Over the years Murdoch acquired more and more media outlets all over the world, from Australia and Europe to the U.S. and China. Now one of the world's wealthiest men, he is frequently criticized for his political views and for "lowering the standards" of the publications and outlets he acquires. In the 1980s he became a U.S. citizen in order to meet requirements for owning TV stations. In the early 1990s his empire was stretched thin financially, but by the end of the '90s it had bounced back with successes on cable television and with the network Asian Star Television. News Corp.'s holdings include the Fox TV Network, HarperCollins Books, 20th Century Fox and The New York Post.

Bill Gates

Gates, Bill (William Henry Gates 3d), 1955–, American business executive, b. Seattle, Wash. At the age of 19, Gates founded (1974) the Microsoft Corp., a computer software firm, with Paul Allen. They began by purchasing the rights to convert an existing software package. In 1980 they agreed to produce the operating system for the personal computer being developed by International Business Machines (IBM). That system, MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System), and subsequent programs (including the Windows operating systems) made Microsoft the world's largest producer of software for microcomputers.

In 1997 the U.S. Justice Dept. accused Microsoft of violating a 1995 antitrust agreement, because the Windows 95 operating system required consumers to load Microsoft's Internet browser—thus giving Microsoft a monopolistic advantage over other browser manufacturers. In late 1999 the trial judge decided that Microsoft was a monopoly that had stifled competition, and the following June he ordered the breakup of Microsoft into two companies, a decision that Microsoft appealed. Although the appeals court overturned (2001) the breakup, it agreed that Microsoft had stifled competition and returned the case to a lower court for resolution. Subsequently the government and the company agreed to a settlement that placed some restrictions on Microsoft but would not essentially diminish the advantage its operating system monopoly gave the software giant; several states contested the settlement, but a judge approved it in 2002. In the European Union the company has also faced scrutiny over anticompetitive concerns, and there it has several times been fined hundreds of millions of euros.

Gates, who is chairman of Microsoft, is one of the wealthiest persons in the world. In 1994 he founded the William H. Gates Foundation (focusing on health issues in developing countries) and in 1997 established the Gates Library Foundation, later renamed the Gates Learning Foundation (providing education assistance). In 1999 the former was renamed the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the latter was merged (2000) into it. In 2008 Gates, while remaining as company chairman, withdrew from daily participation in the running of Microsoft in order to devote more time to the foundation. He has written The Road Ahead (1995, with N. Myhrvold and P. Rinearson) and Business @ the Speed of Thought (1999).