NAME William Henry Gates III
WHAT FAMOUS FOR Co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, philanthropist, and one of the wealthiest people in the world.
BIRTH William Henry Gates III was born on October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington. He was born at a time when computers were massive machines owned only by large corporations and universities, making his future impact on personal computing all the more remarkable.
FAMILY BACKGROUND Gates was born into an upper-middle-class family with deep roots in business, law, and community service. His father, William H. Gates Sr. (1925–2020), was a prominent lawyer who co-founded the prestigious law firm Preston Gates & Ellis, which later became part of K&L Gates, one of the world's largest law firms. His father also served as president of both the Seattle King County and Washington State Bar associations and was deeply involved in philanthropy, helping establish the William H. Gates Foundation in 1994.
His mother, Mary Maxwell Gates (1929–1994), was equally accomplished, serving on the board of directors of First Interstate BancSystem and United Way of America. She was a former schoolteacher who later devoted herself to charitable work and was instrumental in instilling values of civic duty and philanthropy in her children. Gates's maternal grandfather, J. W. Maxwell, was a national bank president.
Gates has two sisters: Kristi (Kristianne), who is older, and Libby, who is younger. The family ancestry includes English, German, and Irish/Scots-Irish heritage.
CHILDHOOD Gates displayed exceptional intellectual abilities from an early age. He was described as curious and inquisitive, always asking questions and seeking out new information. At age 8, he began reading encyclopedias for fun, demonstrating an unusual thirst for knowledge. However, his childhood was not without challenges - he was small for his age and was bullied as a child.
The Gates family encouraged competition, with one visitor reporting that "it didn't matter whether it was hearts or pickleball or swimming to the dock; there was always a reward for winning and there was always a penalty for losing". The family lived in the Sand Point area of Seattle in a home that was damaged by a rare tornado when Gates was 7.
During his childhood, the family regularly attended a church of the Congregational Christian Churches, a Protestant Reformed denomination. His parents initially wanted him to pursue a career in law.
EDUCATION Gates’s educational journey blended academic brilliance with a deepening fascination for technology. He began in public school, but soon found the pace unstimulating. At age 13, his parents enrolled him in the elite Lakeside School in Seattle—an all-boys preparatory school at the time, known for its strict dress code (jackets and ties), formal traditions (students addressed teachers as “master”), and mandatory daily chapel.
Though Gates briefly considered intentionally flunking the entrance exam, he ultimately gave it his full effort and was accepted. The decision would prove life-changing.
The turning point came in 1968, when Gates was in eighth grade. Lakeside’s Mothers’ Club funded the purchase of a Teletype Model 33 ASR terminal and paid for access to a General Electric mainframe. It was on this machine that Gates wrote his very first computer program—a version of tic-tac-toe that let users play against the computer.
At Lakeside, Gates met Paul Allen, a senior student who shared his enthusiasm for computers. Alongside other tech-minded classmates, they formed the Lakeside Programmers Club and began monetizing their skills. By the time Gates was 17, he and Allen launched Traf-O-Data, a startup that built traffic-counting machines using the Intel 8008 processor.
![]() |
Gates (right) with Paul Allen seated at Teletype Model 33 ASR terminals in Lakeside School (1970) |
Gates stood out academically, scoring a near-perfect 1590 out of 1600 on the SAT and graduating as a National Merit Scholar in 1973. A year earlier, he had also served as a congressional page in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In the fall of 1973, Gates enrolled at Harvard University. There, he tackled some of the university’s toughest courses, including Math 55 and graduate-level computer science. He also met Steve Ballmer—his future Microsoft CEO. But after just two years, in 1975, Gates left Harvard to pursue what he saw as the real future: founding Microsoft with Paul Allen. He remained officially on leave from the university for many years, but never returned.
CAREER RECORD Gates's career trajectory shows a remarkable evolution from teenage programmer to global technology leader and philanthropist.
1968-1975 Gates began programming at age 13 and quickly became proficient, working on various projects including school systems and traffic counting devices.
1975: Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft on April 4, 1975, initially as "Micro-Soft" (the hyphen was dropped within a year). Gates served as CEO of Microsoft for 25 years. Under his leadership, Microsoft became the dominant force in personal computing through MS-DOS and later Windows. The company went public in 1986, making Gates a billionaire at age 31 - the youngest ever at that time.
2000-2008: Gates stepped down as CEO in 2000, succeeded by Steve Ballmer, but remained as Chief Software Architect and Chairman.
2000-present): In 2000, Gates co-founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with his then-wife Melinda. Since 2008, he has focused full-time on philanthropy, working on global health, education, and poverty alleviation.
APPEARANCE Gates is if average height and build with a boyish appearance. He stands approximately 5'10" (178 cm) tall. Throughout his career, his appearance has remained relatively consistent, featuring glasses that haven't changed much in 40 years. He often needs a haircut and maintains a casual, unpretentious look.
![]() |
Bill Gates 2025 by By © European Union, 2025, |
FASHION Gates' staple look consists of sweaters over collared shirts, modest clothing that has remained unchanged throughout his career. He favors simple, straightforward looks like shirts, jumpers and chinos and has maintained a frugal approach to his wardrobe, avoiding expensive clothes and jewelry.
In a 2016 Reddit AMA, Gates explained: "I don't like spending a lot of money on clothes or jewelry". He revealed that he wears a $10 wristwatch and explained that "I think people's spending instincts are set when they are in high school". (1)
His casual style became so iconic that in Seoul, South Korea, many entrepreneurs began copying his look, considering it a symbol of successful tech leadership.
CHARACTER From an early age, Gates devoured books with a near-religious fervor, and that hunger for knowledge has never waned. Today, whether it’s quantum computing or global health policy, Gates is rarely without something new to explore.
He is also famously competitive—a trait that, during the early Microsoft years, made the company both a formidable force and a demanding place to work. Gates routinely worked grueling hours and expected similar dedication from those around him. He didn’t just want to win—he wanted to master every field he entered.
Analytical to the core, Gates approaches problems like puzzles to be solved. His decision-making has always been rooted in logic and systems-thinking, allowing him to anticipate industry shifts and outmaneuver rivals with surgical precision.
Psychologists and biographers alike often point to Gates’s personality type as INTP—introverted, intuitive, thinking, and perceiving. In Enneagram terms, he’s seen as a Type 5: “The Thinker”—independent, perceptive, and driven by a deep need to understand the world. These frameworks, while not definitive, reflect his preference for solitude, abstraction, and autonomy.
As a leader, Gates brought a unique blend of vision and precision. He wasn’t a charismatic showman, but he didn’t need to be—he led by sheer intellectual force and a relentless pursuit of innovation. Colleagues describe him as hands-on, curious, flexible, and always several steps ahead.
In his 2025 memoir Source Code: My Beginnings, Gates opens a more personal window into his early life, reflecting on his neurodivergence. He writes that if he were growing up today, he “would probably be diagnosed with autism.” He credits his parents for helping him navigate the social world—through therapy, private schooling, and structured activities like sports. It’s a revealing moment from a man who has spent much of his life in front of a screen, quietly reprogramming the modern world.
SPEAKING VOICE Gates speaks with a Pacific Northwest accent, shaped by his Seattle upbringing. Interestingly, some listeners have mistaken his speech for Canadian, due in part to his vowel sounds. Words like “lot” and “top” are pronounced with a more back and rounded vowel, while “trap” and “that” also carry a slightly retracted quality—subtle markers of his regional tone. (2)
Vocal coaches and speech experts have noted a few challenges in his delivery. Gates has been described as having posture and breathing habits that can limit vocal support. His speech sometimes carries tension—particularly in the neck and shoulders—that affects the ease of airflow, making him occasionally sound less polished or prepared than he actually is. This can lend an impression of being “flat” or “insincere,” despite the substance of what he’s saying.
His delivery style is restrained and deliberate. Gates tends to use minimal body language when speaking publicly. His facial expressions are neutral, and his gestures are economical—used sparingly to underscore a point. His tone remains calm and steady, often reflecting his analytical mindset more than any emotional persuasion. He communicates more like a quietly confident engineer than a charismatic orator, and for Gates, that has always been more than enough.
SENSE OF HUMOUR Bill Gates has a quietly distinctive sense of humor—dry, self-aware, and often tinged with nerdy delight. Nowhere is this more apparent than in his annual Reddit "Ask Me Anything" sessions, where his playful side tends to peek through the buttoned-up exterior.
He’s especially fond of self-deprecating humor. Gates has been known to poke fun at his own awkwardness, even referencing old Microsoft promotional videos in which he and Steve Ballmer dressed up as Austin Powers and Dr. Evil—an image that, once seen, is difficult to forget.
Every year, Gates adds flair to his AMA appearances with creative visual gags—cartoon illustrations, staged photos, or quirky props that suggest all the things he won’t be doing that day. It’s the kind of low-key goofiness that reveals a surprisingly good-natured side beneath the analytical exterior.
He also enjoys wordplay and puns, especially those involving technology or business. Jokes about “Windows crashes” or Excel “spread” sheets are right in his wheelhouse. His humor leans clever rather than slapstick—more Silicon Valley than stand-up club.
Above all, Gates’s comedy is rooted in dry wit. He rarely goes for the obvious laugh, preferring a raised eyebrow and a well-timed line that lands softly but cleverly. It’s the humor of someone who doesn’t need to be funny to be liked—but is quietly funny anyway.
RELATIONSHIPS Gates married Melinda French on January 1, 1994, in Lanai, Hawaii. He rented the entire island and all nearby helicopters for privacy. They met in 1987 at a Microsoft conference where Melinda was a product manager and Bill was CEO. They co-founded and co-chaired the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Bill and Melinda Gates in 2009 by Kjetil Ree Wikipedia |
The couple announced their divorce in May 2021, though they had separated privately the year before. Melinda has indicated that "things that happened outside their marriage" influenced her decision to divorce, and she specifically mentioned discomfort with Bill's meetings with Jeffrey Epstein.
Gates and Melinda have three children: Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe. Gates has been described as finding great joy in spending time with his family and children.
Since 2022, Gates has been in a relationship with Paula Hurd, the widow of former Oracle CEO Mark Hurd.
Gates has admitted to having an affair with a Microsoft employee during his marriage. There were also reports of an alleged relationship with Russian bridge player Mila Antonova, which Jeffrey Epstein allegedly tried to use as leverage.
Warren Buffett is a close friend and mentor, and a significant donor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
MONEY AND FAME Bill Gates became one of the wealthiest individuals in the world through Microsoft, holding the title of the world's richest person for many years. His fame stems from his immense success in technology and his subsequent pivot to large-scale philanthropy.
Gates has stated that "wealth has no utility to me beyond a certain point" and expressed intentions to give away virtually all his wealth. He plans to donate most of his $200 billion fortune through the Gates Foundation over the next 20 years. In 2010, Gates co-founded The Giving Pledge with Warren Buffett and Melinda, encouraging billionaires to commit at least half their wealth to philanthropy.
MICROSOFT Like a lot of precocious children, Bill Gates discovered his life’s calling far earlier than seemed decent. At age 13, while most boys were perfecting their ability to throw erasers or torment siblings, Gates found himself utterly and irreversibly absorbed by the flickering mysteries of a computer terminal at Seattle’s Lakeside School. It was the kind of terminal that spat out instructions on paper rolls and connected to a General Electric mainframe somewhere in the cloudless distance. It made odd chattering noises and smelled faintly of burnt plastic, but to young Gates, it was the Sistine Chapel.
Naturally, he did what any clever teenager would do: he exploited it. Along with Paul Allen, a fellow Lakeside student who looked like he might already own several spare neckties, Gates formed the Lakeside Programmers Club. The idea was to charge people for fixing software problems they’d probably created in the first place. They weren’t just coding; they were monetizing—long before anyone knew that word would one day be shouted at interns by tech bros over kombucha.
Then came Traf-O-Data, a teenage venture so delightfully dorky it sounded like something cooked up by Monty Python. The business involved building devices—using the then-exotic Intel 8008 chip—that could count how many cars passed by on a given stretch of road. Gates and Allen didn’t just write code; they built boxes, wrangled hardware, and pretended to know what traffic engineers actually did for a living. It was absurdly ambitious. It was also oddly effective.
But Traf-O-Data was just the warm-up act. In 1975, Gates and Allen founded a company called "Micro-Soft" (they later lost the hyphen, presumably in a tax-related accident). Their goal? To write software for the Altair 8800, a computer so primitive it made a toaster look clever. Their first product, a version of BASIC, was—against all odds—a hit. People paid actual money for it. Suddenly, the boys from Lakeside were businessmen.
Gates, unsurprisingly, became CEO. And from 1975 to 2000, he guided Microsoft from a scrappy startup in Albuquerque to a globe-spanning behemoth that made more money than some continents. Along the way, he engineered one of the most audacious business coups in history: a deal with IBM to supply the MS-DOS operating system, which IBM needed in a hurry and Microsoft didn’t technically own. (They bought it, in classic Gates fashion, just in time to sell it.)
Under Gates’s leadership, Microsoft not only dominated the PC world with MS-DOS but redefined it entirely with Windows, a graphical user interface that allowed ordinary humans to interact with computers without weeping. Then came Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, and a host of enterprise products—each more lucrative than the last.
In 1986, Microsoft went public. Gates, still shy of his mid-30s and fond of Diet Coke, became the youngest billionaire in history. He celebrated, naturally, by buying a used Porsche 911.
By 2000, Gates stepped down as CEO, handing the reins to his Harvard dormmate Steve Ballmer, whose boundless energy could be measured only in units of Red Bull. Gates took on the role of Chief Software Architect and remained as chairman, nudging Microsoft toward new innovations while quietly thinking about malaria.
By 2008, he shifted again—this time from tech mogul to full-time philanthropist. With the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, he turned his laser-like intellect to eradicating diseases, improving education, and figuring out why the world can’t seem to get toilets right. He gradually stepped away from Microsoft, though he lingered as a board member and advisor, popping in occasionally like a benevolent billionaire uncle.
And so, from tic-tac-toe to tectonic global shifts in software, Gates’s journey was not merely a triumph of code, but of vision, timing, and—as he might admit with a grin—just a little bit of luck.
FOOD AND DRINK When it comes to favorites, Gates has made no secret of his love for cheeseburgers, especially from In-N-Out or McDonald’s. He once confessed, “Cheeseburgers are my favorite food. But I wish they weren’t,” acknowledging the environmental cost of meat consumption with characteristic honesty.
His drink of choice? Diet Coke, which he reportedly consumes with regularity—sometimes several cans a day. It’s a habit that’s followed him from boardroom to foundation office.
Despite his fast-food preferences, Gates is deeply engaged with the environmental impact of the global food system. He actively promotes plant-based and alternative proteins as solutions to climate change and has even incorporated fonio—a highly nutritious, drought-resistant African grain—into his own diet for its health benefits and low ecological footprint.
Gates’s dietary philosophy is modest and practical. He favors simple, sustainable meals and backs technologies that can make healthy food accessible and eco-friendly. This includes support for lab-grown meat, as well as investments in food innovation aimed at combating malnutrition in the developing world.
Whether it’s burgers or biotech, Gates approaches food with the same mindset he brings to global health and technology: a mix of pragmatism, curiosity, and a long view of the planet’s future.
MUSIC AND ARTS Gates took piano lessons as a child but eventually "music gave way to an interest in sports". Despite not pursuing music professionally, he has maintained an appreciation for classical music, noting that Dvořák's New World Symphony, particularly the "Largo" movement, is one of his favorite classical pieces.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has supported arts programs, including a $25,000 grant to Youth Advancement Through Music and Art (YATMA). This program provides music and arts instruction to youth, including private lessons in musical instruments, voice, dance, creative writing, and visual arts.
Gates owns a 16th-century Leonardo da Vinci manuscript that he purchased for $30 million in 1994. His homes also feature famous paintings, including a Winslow Homer painting he purchased for $36 million in 1988.
Gates has commissioned fine art to promote global health awareness, enlisting more than 30 artists to create images that bring vaccination statistics to life. The goal was to "spark conversations, interest and, ultimately, funding for vaccines".
LITERATURE Gates is an avid reader across a wide range of subjects, particularly non-fiction. He reads approximately one book per week and has maintained this pace since he was a child. He always brings a whole tote bag of books on vacation and considers reading one of his favorite ways to relax.
Gates takes extensive notes in the margins of books, prefers paper books over ebooks, and blocks out an hour after reading to reflect on the content. He follows the principle of "don't start what you can't finish".
Gates regularly publishes book reviews on his blog, Gates Notes, and has recommended hundreds of books over the years. Gates reads more nonfiction than fiction, with preferences for books on history, science, technology, and economics. Notable favorites include Grand Transitions and How the World Really Works by Vaclav Smil, and The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker. His favorite novels include The Heart by Maylis de Kerangal.
Gates has written several books himself, including Source Code: My Beginnings (2025), the first of a planned three-volume autobiography.
NATURE Bill Gates’s interest in the environment is rooted in climate action and conservation technology. Gates supports organizations like The Nature Conservancy, but his real focus lies in transforming how we live and produce energy to reduce environmental harm. He doesn’t romanticize nature—he strategizes around it.
While many advocate for tree-planting as a solution to global warming, Gates has been blunt in his assessment: he’s called an overreliance on trees for carbon offsetting “complete nonsense.” In his view, the climate crisis requires industrial-scale innovation, not symbolic gestures. He champions solutions like carbon capture, green hydrogen, and sustainable aviation fuel, backing them through ventures like Breakthrough Energy.
One of the more surprising facts about Gates is that he’s now the 42nd largest landowner in the United States, holding roughly 275,000 acres, including about 242,000 acres of farmland spread across Louisiana, Arkansas, Arizona, and beyond. Far from a vanity purchase, Gates says the farmland is part of an effort to improve productivity and support sustainable agriculture—essentially, trying to future-proof the food system.
In short, Gates doesn’t just think about preserving nature—he wants to redesign humanity’s footprint on it, using data, dollars, and deep tech to do it.
![]() |
Gates and UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron at COP28 in Dubai in 2023 |
PETS While Bill Gates isn’t known as a pet owner, his connection to animals runs deep—primarily through his philanthropic work focused on animal welfare and agricultural development.
Through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates has invested heavily in livestock research and animal health, particularly in the developing world. The foundation has allocated over $40 million to initiatives aimed at improving the productivity and resilience of farm animals—supporting projects like higher-yielding dairy cows, chickens that produce more nutritious eggs, and vaccines to protect livestock from disease.
Gates has spoken with admiration about the role animals play in improving lives, especially in low-income regions. “If you care about agriculture, you care about livestock,” he’s said. “Livestock is magical. You can sell the output and that’s money for school fees. You can keep the output and that’s diet diversification.” His views highlight a practical, systems-level approach to animal welfare—one rooted in nutrition, economics, and sustainability. (3)
HOBBIES AND SPORTS Gates plays tennis regularly and considers it one of his favorite forms of exercise. He has played charity matches with professional players including Roger Federer and uses the sport for both fitness and philanthropic fundraising.
Gates has been playing pickleball for over 50 years, long before it became popular. He describes himself as a "Pickler" (someone obsessed with the game) and notes that the sport started near his home in the Pacific Northwest.
Gates is an "avid bridge player" who learned the game from Warren Buffett. He considers it one of his "old-fashioned" hobbies and appreciates the mix of strategy and teamwork required.
Gates enjoys "Settlers of Catan," a civilization-building board game that he plays with his family. He told Time in 2018 "Melinda, our kids, and I have spent many hours sitting around the table trading resources, building roads, and strategizing".
While primarily educational, Gates considers reading a relaxing hobby, noting "It may not be too surprising that one of my favorite ways to relax is to keep learning".
Gates enjoys traveling to different parts of the world to learn about cultures, economies, and global challenges. (4)
SCIENCE AND MATHS From a young age, Gates demonstrated an exceptional aptitude for mathematics. By age 13, he had already begun distinguishing himself among the region’s brightest students, winning a regional math competition that hinted at the analytical mind to come.
At Harvard University, he dove headfirst into some of the school’s most demanding coursework, including Math 55, a notoriously rigorous class often described as a boot camp for future theorists. During his time there, Gates developed an algorithm for pancake sorting—a whimsical but serious mathematical challenge—which stood as the fastest known solution for over three decades.
But Gates’s engagement with science goes far beyond the classroom. In his philanthropic and entrepreneurial work, he has consistently embraced a data-driven, scientific mindset. Whether tackling malaria, climate change, or agricultural reform, Gates approaches problems with the logic of a systems engineer and the precision of a statistician.
Through initiatives like Breakthrough Energy, he funds high-impact research in clean energy, artificial intelligence, and climate innovation, aiming to scale solutions that can reshape entire industries. He also chairs TerraPower, a company developing next-generation nuclear reactors designed for safer, more sustainable energy.
Today, Gates remains deeply invested in the frontiers of science, with a particular focus on AI, robotics, and biotechnology. He regularly publishes insights on how emerging technologies will shape the future and supports research at institutions like Harvard—continuing to blend his love of learning with a commitment to global progress.
PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Gates was raised in a Christian family, with his mother being a devout Episcopalian. The family regularly attended a church of the Congregational Christian Churches during his childhood. However, Gates describes himself as agnostic, meaning he doesn't believe in a personal God but doesn't dismiss the possibility of a greater power. He has stated: "I think it makes sense to believe in God, but exactly what decision in your life you make differently because of it, I don't know".
Gates respects religious traditions and their moral teachings. He has said: "The moral systems of religion, I think, are super important. We've raised our kids in a religious way; they've gone to the Catholic church that Melinda goes to and I participate in". (5)
Gates believes science is the best path to understanding the world and typically relies on reason and evidence rather than religious belief. He approaches problems with optimization and analytical thinking.
Gates finds merit in basic principles of mercy, kindness, and helping others that are common to most religions. His philanthropic work reflects these values.
POLITICS For much of his public life, Gates maintained a largely non-partisan stance, focusing on bipartisan solutions to global issues like health, education, and climate change. His emphasis was on policy over party, often working with leaders across the political spectrum to advance scientific and humanitarian goals.
That approach began to shift more noticeably in recent years. In a notable move during the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Gates reportedly made a private donation of approximately $50 million to support Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign. The funds were directed to Future Forward USA Action, a nonprofit group that does not publicly disclose its donors. The contribution marked a significant step into the political fray for someone long known for his behind-the-scenes diplomacy.
Gates also voiced deep concerns about the potential consequences of a second Donald Trump presidency, though he’s careful to stress his willingness to work with any administration to address urgent global issues.
In terms of policy, Gates has consistently backed progressive taxation, including calls for higher state income taxes on the wealthy and the preservation of estate taxes. His views reflect a belief in economic fairness and a desire to prevent extreme wealth from becoming entrenched across generations.
He has also commented on the changing political climate within the tech world, expressing surprise at the rise of a right-leaning faction in Silicon Valley. “I always thought of Silicon Valley as being left of center,” he admitted in an interview, noting the cultural shift with some concern.
Still, much of Gates’s political focus remains global rather than domestic. His energies are largely channeled into international development, public health, and climate policy, where he continues to advocate for science-based solutions and sustained foreign aid—regardless of who’s in office.
SCANDAL Gates has faced several significant controversies that have impacted his public image:
The most prominent scandal involves Gates's relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Gates met with Epstein multiple times between 2011 and 2014, even after Epstein's 2008 conviction. Gates has called these meetings "a huge mistake" and stated he was "foolish to spend any time with him". The Epstein relationship contributed to Gates's divorce from Melinda. Melinda had expressed discomfort with the meetings, calling Epstein "abhorrent" and "evil personified".
Reports suggest Epstein threatened to expose Gates's alleged affair with Russian bridge player Mila Antonova in 2017 when Gates refused to join Epstein's charitable fund.
Gates has publicly acknowledged being unfaithful to Melinda during their marriage. There was also an investigation into an alleged relationship with a Microsoft employee.
Some Microsoft employees have accused Gates of bullying and inappropriate workplace behavior, though Gates has not specifically addressed these allegations.
MILITARY RECORD Bill Gates has no military record. He was born in 1955 and came of age after the Vietnam War draft had ended. Gates has never served in the military in any capacity.
HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Gates is a regular tennis player, often describing the sport as a favorite form of exercise. For Gates, tennis offers not only a cardiovascular workout but also a way to sharpen reflexes and engage in friendly competition. He has also enjoyed pickleball for over 50 years, long before the sport's recent surge in popularity.
Travel is another form of activity he embraces—not just for the cultural enrichment but as a physically engaging pursuit that keeps him moving and learning.
To stay mentally sharp, Gates practices memory and visualization techniques, including building “memory palaces”—a method that dates back to ancient Greece. These cognitive exercises, he says, help keep his mind agile and improve recall, particularly as he ages.
Through more than 25 years of philanthropic work in global health, Gates has become one of the most influential non-medical voices in public health policy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he emerged as a key figure in the global response. His foundation co-founded the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator in 2020 to speed the development of new treatments, despite Gates himself having no formal medical training.
HOMES His primary residence, famously dubbed “Xanadu 2.0” after the opulent estate in Citizen Kane, is a 66,000-square-foot tech-enabled mansion in Medina, Washington. Valued at around $183.5 million, the property spans nearly 11 acres along Lake Washington and features seven bedrooms, six kitchens, 24 bathrooms, six fireplaces, a 60-foot swimming pool with an underwater sound system, a 2,500-square-foot gym, and a 2,100-square-foot library. It’s less a house and more a private, self-sufficient campus.
Gates also owns multiple properties in California:
In Indian Wells, he purchased a 13,573-square-foot home for $15 million in 1999.
In Rancho Santa Fe, he bought a sprawling 229-acre estate with equestrian facilities for $18 million in 2014.
In Del Mar, he added a $43 million beachfront house in 2020—an oceanfront property measuring about 5,800 square feet.
Beyond the West Coast, Gates’s portfolio includes:
Florida: Properties in Wellington and Hobe Sound, including a $13.5 million equestrian estate.
Montana: A private lodge at the Yellowstone Club, valued at $29 million, offering access to exclusive ski slopes and remote wilderness.
Though Gates has pledged to give away the majority of his fortune, he acknowledges the irony of his real estate footprint. “My homes are gigantic,” he’s said. “I can’t imagine living anywhere smaller.”
TRAVEL Gates enjoys traveling to learn about different cultures, economies, and global challenges. He describes his 1993 trip to Tanzania, Kenya, and Zaire with Melinda as life-changing, inspiring them to start their foundation earlier than planned.
Gates travels extensively for foundation work, visiting countries across Africa, Asia, and other regions to assess health and development programs. His 2023 trip to India included visits to Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore.
APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Gates has appeared in numerous documentaries, films, and television programs:
1. Netflix Series:
Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates (2019) - A three-part documentary series
What's Next? The Future with Bill Gates (2024) - A five-episode series exploring AI, climate change, income inequality, and other global challenges
2. Major Documentaries:
Numerous appearances in technology and business documentaries
Featured in films about Microsoft, computing history, and philanthropy
3. Television Appearances:
Regular appearances on news programs and talk shows
Interviews on major networks discussing technology and global health issues.
Frequent speaker at TED Talks and major conferences
Active on social media and his blog Gates Notes
YouTube channel with educational content
ACHIEVEMENTS
Co-founded Microsoft, one of the most influential tech companies in history
Became the world’s youngest billionaire at the time
Built one of the largest private charitable foundations in the world
Helped revolutionize personal computing
Regularly named among the world’s most influential people
Sources (1) VN Express (2) Dialect Blog (3) ILRI (4) Time (5) Denison Forum
No comments:
Post a Comment