No one knows where M. Bison came from (or what the "M" stands for, for that matter). It is known that he is a powerful psychic, but the ultimate origin of this power is unknown as well. Many years ago, Bison used his own power to discard what he viewed as the weakest parts of his own soul. This soul fragment eventually became the woman known as Rose. Without the limiting factor of Rose's soul inside him, Bison was able to grow his power at a tremendous rate until his physical form could no longer safely contain it.
Bison founded the criminal cartel Shadowloo to support his bid for world domination and help him increase his own power. Shadowloo is a syndicate that has its fingers in almost every form of ilicit activity. Bison also recruits a prodigious number of superhuman fighters, who make certain that Shadowloo remains the premiere crime syndicate through apllications of brutal force.
During the time while Shadowloo was growing in power, Bison had the Psychodrive constructed. The Psychodrive is a machine designed to harness, contain and amplify Bison's power. Housed in a massive underground structure in Thailand, the Psychodrive has made Bison so powerful that he needs to find a new body to continue surviving. Perhaps towards this end, he kidnapped and brainwashed several potentially powerful young women. From them, he engineered what was supposed to be his perfect body. When this body proved to have a disturbing amount of free will, he discarded the project and began to seek out a new host.
Bison is a... cheerful person. He cheerfully crushes his foes. He cheerfully grinds nations under his boot. He plans to cheerfully take over the world and cheerfully destroy anyone who stands against him. Bison has a god complex. He thinks he is power incarnate, and that his victory is not only inevitable but the natural order of the universe. Bison does not like to kill people (althought he will not hesitate to do so); instead, he prefers to crush their spirit and will under his heel, forcing them to serve him. He probably genuinely believes that those he has tormented, brainwashed and threatened into serving him are better off and much happier for it.
Bison's ego is only matched by his power. Physically imposing, he has immense strength and stamina. His body is sustained by the Psychopower that flows through him and he can shrug off otherwise lethal blows through sheer willpower. He is a powerful telekinetic, able to pick up large objects and levitate himself. He can teleport, project psionic force blasts, read minds and even influence them. Using the Psychodrive as a catalyst, he can completely wipe out the mind and personality of a person, turning them into his loyal slaves. This process can be reversed if caught quickly enough, but over time it becomes harder and harder to wrest people from his will. Even without the Psychodrive, he was a terror on the battlefield. With it, he is all but unstoppable. In fact, his only weakness is the immense machine. If it were to be damaged, he would be unable to contain the power in his body and die. But even that will not necessarily stop Bison, as his power and will could potentially survive beyond his death if there was a suitable host for it to find its way to.