Bill Gates established Corbis in 1989 to distribute digital versions of artworks and photographs.
Corbis was originally founded as Interactive Home Systems and later became known as Corbis. Gates created the company to build a large digital image library and license visual content for electronic use, at a time when digital media distribution was still developing.
The company acquired important collections, including the Bettmann Archive, which contained historic photographs and illustrations. Corbis also pursued licensing agreements with museums, photographers, and other rights holders.
Corbis was not a Microsoft division, although Gates’s experience in software and digital technology influenced his interest in the business. In 2016, Corbis sold its image-licensing businesses to Visual China Group; the historic archive operations were transferred to other organizations. The company is therefore best remembered as Gates’s separate digital-media venture.