Topline
Billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates is opening up about his “lucky” early childhood, his years “getting hooked on coding” and his belief that, if we grew up today, he’d probably be diagnosed as “on the autism spectrum” as he promotes the release of his memoir next month—also commenting on more recent issues like his divorce.
Bill Gates on Dec. 1, 2023 in Dubai.
Key Facts
“Source Code: My Beginnings” is the first of three planned personal memoirs by Gates and will cover his early life and the formation of Microsoft through the late 1970s, when the company signed its first deal with Apple.
The Wall Street Journal published an extensive excerpt from the book in which Gates describes his teenage years taking “expeditions” through the mountains around Seattle with his friends, writing computer code for a PDP-8 machine on loan to his high school and the “lucky timing” that saw him born at the right time and under the right circumstances to succeed.
He also reflected on how he would become obsessed with certain projects, miss social cues and “could be rude and inappropriate without seeming to notice” how it impacted others—traits he equated to what is now called neurodivergence and said, if he was growing up today, “I probably would be diagnosed on the autism spectrum.”
He said in an interview with The Times of London there were conversations in his early school years that he might be “retarted” and he was threatened with being held back, but that he “needed my neurodiversity” to write the software that would later lead to Microsoft.
While promoting the book with The Times, Gates took a more comprehensive view of his life, reflecting on his time at Harvard, his marriage and the guiding principles he learned from his strong family life.
He calls the death of his best friend and first business partner, Kent Evans, at 17 years old “the only negative thing that happened to me,” and credits strong female role models like his mother and maternal grandmother with giving him the competitive drive that pushed him to succeed.
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Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
Forbes Valuation
Gates is worth an estimated $107.8 billion Tuesday, making him the 13th richest person in the world. Melinda French Gates is worth an estimated $30.4 billion, ranking her No. 60 on Forbes’ real-time billionaires list.
What To Watch For
“Source Code: My Beginnings” will be published Feb. 4, 2025. The next two memoirs will cover his years at Microsoft and his philanthropy, respectively, but release dates have not been announced.
Crucial Quote
“In the book, I share some of the tougher parts of my early life… But throughout it, you’ll also find the stories of the many people who believed in me, pushed me to grow and helped me turn my quirks into strengths,” Gates said of “Source Code: My Beginnings.”
What Did Bill Gates Say About His Divorce With Melinda French Gates?
In his interview with The Times, Gates calls the end of his 27-year marriage to Melinda Gates “the mistake I most regret.” “Source Code” isn’t expected to delve into his marriage or 202q divorce, but he spoke to The Times about his family structure and said it was his relationship that “kept me grounded.” He said he strived to replicate the 45-year marriage of his own parents and that he and Melinda were always a good match, noting that she would push him to tune into family life when he was distant or distracted. He said he would could their divorce as his biggest failure and that “there are others, but none that matter.”
What Did Bill Gates Say About Elon Musk?
In his interview with The Times as part of his book promotion, Gates said he doesn’t like the comparisons that have been drawn between himself and Tesla billionaire Elon Musk, who is now the richest man in the world and spends much of his time and money influencing global politics. Musk, who owns the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, spent a quarter of a billion dollars getting now-President Donald Trump elected and has weighed in on the political issues of foreign countries, particularly in the United Kingdom. Gates called Musk’s online feuds with foreign leaders “insane s—” and called his behavior “populist stirring.” “It’s difficult to understand why someone who has a car factory in both China and in Germany, whose rocket business is ultra-dependent on relationships with sovereign nations and who is busy cutting $2 trillion in US government expenses and running five companies, is obsessing about this grooming story in the U.K.,” Gates said of Musk. “I’m like, what?”
What Did Bill Gates Say About Trump?
Gates also spoke about a three-hour dinner with Trump he had at Mar-A-Lago in December in his interview with The Times. While Trump and Gates have clashed in the past, Gates called the president the “most powerful man in the world” and said they discussed funding a cure for HIV, polio, green energy and nuclear power. “I need to stay close,” Gates said. “Whoever gets to enthuse President Trump about the right things, that is God’s work.”
Key Background
Gates, 69, is best known for co-founding Microsoft in 1975. He served as chair, CEO and president of the company and, until 2014, was its largest individual shareholder. He was the wealthiest person in the world for much of the 2000s and 2010s. Gates is a climate change and green energy advocate, and in 2000 he and his ex-wife, Melinda, founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The couple have given more than $59 billion to the foundation. One of the largest charities in the world, the organization funds public health projects and promotes the education of women and girls in the developing world, among other causes. Bill and Melinda Gates were two of the three founding members of The Giving Pledge, which encourages wealthy people to contribute a majority of their fortunes to philanthropic causes. Gates has three children with Melinda and two grandchildren. He is currently dating Paula Hurd, widow of former Oracle and Hewlett-Packard chief executive Mark Hurd.
Further Reading
Bill Gates: Trump, Musk and how my neurodiversity made me (The Times)
Bill Gates: I Coded While I Hiked as a Teenager. Was I on the Spectrum? Probably. (The Wall Street Journal)
Bill Gates Falls To Lowest Rank On The Forbes 400 In Nearly 25 Years (Forbes)
Bill Gates Donated $50 Million To Nonprofit Supporting Kamala Harris, Report Says (Forbes)
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