William Henry Gates II (born November 30, 1925), better known as Bill Gates Sr., is an American retired attorney and philanthropist, and author of the book Showing Up for Life: Thoughts on the Gifts of a Lifetime. He is the father of Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft.
One of a line of businessmen named William H. Gates, and sometimes called William Gates Jr. during his career, he is now generally known as William Henry Gates Sr. due to the greater prominence of his son Bill Gates (whose full name is William Henry Gates III). He has adopted the suffix "Sr." to distinguish himself from his more famous son.
Gates served under the U.S. Army for three years during World War II. After the war, Gates attended the University of Washington under the G.I. Bill, earning a B.A. in 1949 and a J.D. degree in 1950. While at Washington he joined the Chi Psi fraternity. He co-founded Shidler & King in 1964, which later became Preston Gates & Ellis LLP (PGE). He practiced with the firm until 1998, when it was merged into the firm now known as K&L Gates (with which Bill Gates Sr. is not affiliated).