Analysts think Doug Burgum could be named as former President Donald Trump's running mate, sparking widespread interest in the North Dakota governor's life, career, background and finances.The 67-year-old has governed the state since 2016, but before entering politics he was a well-known businessman and led a software company that was acquired by Microsoft for more than $1 billion.
The governor had relatively humble beginnings, working in his family's grain elevator business through school and college at North Dakota State University, then becoming a chimney sweep before entering an MBA program at Stanford University.Following the $1.1 billion sale of Great Plains Software in 2001 to the tech giant, Burgum became a senior vice president at Microsoft and was awarded more than 1.7 million Microsoft shares, which then were worth roughly $100 million, according to Forbes.