Speakers
Jeff Raikes
CEO, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Jeff Raikes is CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Before joining the foundation, Mr. Raikes was a member of Microsoft’s senior leadership team and president of the Microsoft Business Division. He previously served as group vice president of the worldwide sales and support group. Before that, he served as senior vice president of Microsoft North America. Mr. Raikes joined Microsoft in 1981 as a product manager and was promoted to director of applications marketing in 1984. He was the chief strategist behind the company’s success in graphical applications for the Apple Macintosh and the Microsoft Windows operating system as well as the creation of the Microsoft Office suite. Before joining Microsoft, he was a software development manager at Apple. He and his wife, Tricia, are founders of the Raikes Foundation and active members of the United Way of King County, where they served as co-chairs of the 2006–07 fundraising campaign. Mr. Raikes also serves on the board of directors for Costco Wholesale and the Microsoft Alumni Foundation. He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering-economic systems from Stanford University.
