Deciding that becoming the world"s richest man in the world was more important than graduating in 1977, Microsoft Corporation chairman Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard College (the wealthiest school in the U.S.) in 1975. In a sense he will finish what he started when he receives an honorary degree after delivering the school"s main commencement speech on June 7. The details of the honorary degree won"t be disclosed until the morning before commencement, the school said in a statement. "His contributions to the world of business and technology, and the great example he has set through his far-reaching philanthropy, will rightfully put him center stage in Harvard Yard,"" said Paul Finnegan, president of the Harvard Alumni Association.
In 2000, Gates and his wife, Melinda Gates, set up the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which makes grants of about $1.5 billion a year to organizations around the world. Gates, through the foundation and as an individual, has donated undisclosed amounts to Harvard"s medical school, school of public health and faculty of arts and sciences, among others.