Richard W. "Ric" Weiland (April 21, 1953 – June 24, 2006) was a computer software pioneer and philanthropist. He was one of the first five employees of Microsoft Corporation. In 2002, Weiland began seeing Mike Schaefer, an account manager at a software firm and former strategic adviser to the Seattle City Council. Schaefer says he and Ric were drawn together by a shared interest in gay activism. “I was first attracted by Ric’s commitment to the community,” says Schaefer. “He was a strong believer in the Seattle Foundation’s healthy community model, which included the arts, health, education, and so on. And I was struck by how articulate and focused he was and that he had a really broad portfolio of interests.” Mike Schaefer has distributed more than $180 million – nearly 100% of their assets – to 20 charitable organizations since his partner’s death in 2006.

Weiland was a high school classmate and friend of Paul Allen, with whom he created the Lakeside Programmers Group at Lakeside School, a preparatory school in Seattle, Washington, USA. Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Kent Evans, and Weiland were involved with the Computer Center Corporation, using their PDP-10. They worked together to create a payroll program in COBOL for Portland company Information Sciences Inc., and wrote scheduling software for a school. (Picture: Mike Schaefer)


Mike Schaefer & Ric Weiland: Ric Weiland was a computer software pioneer and philanthropist. He was one of the first five employees of Microsoft Corporation. In 2002 Weiland began seeing Mike Schaefer, an account manager at a software firm and former strategic adviser to the Seattle City Council. Schaefer says he and Ric were drawn together by a shared interest in gay activism. Mike Schaefer has distributed more than $180 million, nearly 100% of their assets, to 20 charitable organizations since his partner’s death in 2006.

After he graduated from Stanford University, Allen and Gates hired him in 1975, the same year they founded Microsoft in Albuquerque. As one of only five employees, Weiland was a lead programmer and developer for the company's BASIC and COBOL language systems.

After a stint at Harvard Business School, he rejoined Microsoft in 1982 and became the project leader for Microsoft Works. He left Microsoft in 1988 and dedicated most of his time to philanthropy. He was described by Allen as a "brilliant programmer" and a key contributor to the company's success.

Weiland was a donor to organizations such as the Pride Foundation, the Lifelong AIDS Alliance, United Way of King County, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Stanford University, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, AMFAR, The Nature Conservancy, and the National Audubon Society. He was influential as an active member of the Northwest gay community. A member of the Pride Foundation's board of directors from 1997 to 2001, he helped win the fight to get General Electric to include sexual orientation in their non-discrimination policy.

A supporter of his alma mater, he established the Weiland Family Stanford Graduate Fellowship and endowed the Martha Meier Weiland professorship at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Weiland also was a quiet but key second round investor in gay online media company PlanetOut Corp. His investment helped the company survive the dot com crash of 2000. PlanetOut was acquired by Online Partners in 2001 and is now called PlanetOut Inc.

It was once estimated that during his life he had contributed $30 million to over 50 organizations. He was known not to seek publicity for his philanthropy.

On February 24, 2008, Pride Foundation announced that Ric had bequeathed $65 Million to support gay rights and HIV/AIDS organizations - the largest ever single bequest for LGBT community. Through his estate, Weiland established a fund at the Pride Foundation that will provide $46 million over the next eight years to 10 national LGBT and HIV/AIDS organizations that he personally selected and $19 million directly to Pride Foundation for their scholarships and grants supporting the Northwest's LGBT community.

The King County Medical Examiner's Office said he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head on June 24 2006. He was reported to have suffered from clinical depression. "...Survivors include his partner, Mike Schaefer."

On February 24 2008, Pride Foundation announced that the estate had left $65 million to gay rights and HIV/AIDS organizations. The $65 million is among bequests totaling about $160 million - the bulk of Weiland's estate - to various charities and Stanford University, his undergraduate alma mater, according to an estimate provided by the Pride Foundation.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ric_Weiland

Further Readings:

Bill Gates (Up Close) by Marc Aronson
Age Range: 12 and up
Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: Viking Juvenile (December 26, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0670063487
ISBN-13: 978-0670063482
Amazon: Bill Gates (Up Close)

Bill Gates is many things: the richest person in the world; the ruthless businessman who co-founded Microsoft and led it to domination of the computer software industry; and now, the leading global philanthropist. When Gates was born in 1955, no one in the world owned a personal computer. A window had a pane of glass. A mouse was a rodent. As a teenager, Gates realized how computers were about to change the world, and made his fortune by riding that wave; modern teens look to him as their model of how technology can be turned into wealth. Marc Aronson’s biography is a probing portrait of a man whose name is a household word.

More LGBT Couples at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Real Life Romance


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