$ cat ./records/bill-gatess-mother-mary-maxwell-gates-dies-in-1994-1994.txt
Bill Gates's mother, Mary Maxwell Gates, dies in 1994
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Mary Maxwell Gates — Bill Gates's mother and an influential civic leader who had helped connect Microsoft to IBM — died of breast cancer in June 1994 at age 64, just months after attending her son's wedding to Melinda French. A University of Washington regent and the first woman to chair the national United Way's executive committee, she instilled in her son a strong ethic of service and giving that would shape his later philanthropy. Her death deeply affected Gates and helped spur the family's charitable focus.
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Related Accomplishments
1990s
Gates keeps a collection of rare and classic cars
Despite his reputation for frugality in some areas, Bill Gates has long indulged a passion for cars, assembling a collection that has included several Porsches — among them the 911 he has owned for decades and the storied 959 — as well as other classics. His automotive tastes, and the saga of importing the then-illegal 959, are among the more colorful footnotes of his personal life.
1990s
Gates retreats for solitary, twice-yearly 'Think Weeks'
For years Bill Gates retreated twice a year to a secluded cabin for a solitary 'Think Week,' during which he read stacks of papers, books, and employee proposals with no interruptions, emerging with strategic memos that shaped Microsoft's direction. The ritual became famous as a model of deep, focused thinking by a busy executive, and was credited with helping spark major pivots — including Microsoft's embrace of the internet. Gates carried the habit of voracious, deliberate reading into his philanthropy.
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