London, Jan 25: Microsoft supremo Bill Gates is to receive an honorary British Knighthood for services to global enterprise, the 'Sunday Telegraph' reported. Gates, 48, was recommended for the Knighthood -- which is to be formally conveyed by Queen Elizabeth II -- by chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown, the newspaper said, adding that an announcement would be made tomorrow.
That is when Gates, among other captains of global industry and finance, will be in London attending a major conference titled "Advancing Enterprise: Britain in a Global Economy," organised by Brown.
Britain gives the title of honorary Knight Commander of the most excellent order of the British Empire, or KBE, from time to time to distinguished non-Britons, many of them Americans.
Such foreign Knights cannot, however, prefix their names with "Sir".
Americans who have received a KBE include former president George Bush, former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, film director Steven Spielberg, and US federal reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, who will also be at tomorrow's conference, the 'Sunday Telegraph' said.
Bureau Report