According to his friends, a CS professor, who they say Gates often corrected in class, accused Gates of using the University’s computer facilities for commercial use.

No serious action was taken, but Gates was given a warning and a proverbial slap on the wrist.

Sethna says he later asked Gates if he held a grudge against Harvard. He says Gates told him he didn’t hold any grudges against the institution and thought the conflict was mostly a personal one with the individual professor.

In any case, by the end of his sophomore year, Gates was getting bored with Harvard and was anxious to move on.

He had taken almost every CS course the University offered, and he was getting more interested in the commercial aspects of computers.

“[Gates] wasn’t adamant about leaving. He was just ready to get out,” says Sethan.

In what would have been his junior year, Gates moved to Alberquerque, NM to help his high school friend, Paul Allen, market BASIC 2.0.

“At first it was just a matter of taking a semester off, and then another semester,” Gates’ father says. “It made us nervous, but we didn’t try to convince him to stay. He was a grown boy.”

Gates writes that he does not regret leaving college to start Microsoft, but at times he wishes that he had had time to finish.

“I really enjoyed my time at Harvard, and being able to work with an amazing group of smart people,” he writes. “When I was building Microsoft and struggling to make payroll I certainly missed the pace of academic life!”

He also says that if he had waited to finish college, the opportunity to play a leading role in the information technology revolution may have not presented itself again.

The Rest is History

On Feb. 3, 1977, Gates and Allen formally launched Microsoft and the following year, Microsoft revenues exceeded $1 million.