15 Fascinating Less-Known Details About Bill Gates

Technologist, corporate billionaire, and philanthropist Bill Gates was raised in Seattle, Washington, by a kind and encouraging family who fostered his early interest in computers. In order to launch Microsoft with his boyhood buddy Paul Allen, he quit college. Today, Bill tries to contribute his riches back to society through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which he co-chairs with his wife, Melinda French Gates.
Together with his two sisters, Bill grew up in Seattle. William H. Gates Sr., his late father, was a lawyer in Seattle and a co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Mary Gates, his late mother, was a teacher, a regent at the University of Washington, and the head of United Way International. One of the most famous and successful computer geniuses in the world, Bill Gates is credited with creating Microsoft. However, how did things start for the college dropout? And how did he get to be one of the richest men in the world? Here are 15 fascinating details about Bill Gates.

#1 When he was a teenager, Bill Gates wrote his first program.

At the age of 13, Gates enrolled at Seattle's Lakeside Prep School, where he also wrote his first piece of software. He created a computerized version of tic-tac-toe while he was in the eighth grade.

#2 Bill Gates didn't finish college.

After two years of studies, Gates left Harvard in 1975 to focus on creating Microsoft.

#3 Microsoft was co-founded by Bill Gates.

Gates dropped out of Harvard to work with business partner Paul Allen to found Microsoft. Allen came up with the moniker Micro-soft as a mashup of software and a microcomputer. The two collaborated to make Microsoft what it is today.

#4 He is the owner of a number of Da Vinci's writings.

Gates paid $30.8 million on November 11th, 1994 to acquire "Codex Leicester." Gates acquired the Codex Leicester, a collection of scholarly papers, at the New York Christie's auction house.

#5 He received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in 2005.

Gates received the honorary KBE, or Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, designation in 2005.

#6 Gates has three kids.

Gates’ first daughter Jennifer Katherine Gates, was born on April 26, 1996. His son Rory John Gates was born on May 23, 1999. Gates’ third child, Phoebe Adele Gates, was born on September 14, 2002.

#7 Bill Gates is catholic.

#8 His residence is known as Xanadu 2.0.

Gates' home is located in Medina, Washington, and has a lake view. The mansion is 66,000 square feet (6,100 square meters) in size and was constructed with a pacific lodge design. The house was worth $147.5 million in 2009.

#9 He participated in his first charity competition in 2017.

Gates participated in his first charity competition on April 29, 2017. He participated in "Match for Africa 4" as a teammate of tennis legend Roger Federer.

#10 He has a cameo appearance in "The Big Bang Theory"

In The Big Bang Theory's Season 11, Episode 18, Gates appeared as a guest cast member and took on the role of himself. The episode, which aired on March 29, 2018, was named "The Gates Excitation."

#11 Gates has written three books.

• "The Road Ahead,” published in November 1995.
• “Business @ the Speed of Thought,” published in 1999.
• “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster” was published on February 16, 2021.

#12 Gates is monolingual.

He is a master of several computer and programming languages, but he has never studied any other human languages.

#13 He has made investments in several startup businesses.

As of 2019, Gates was Canadian Network Railway's largest individual stakeholder. As of 2012, Gates owned a 25% investment in Ecolab and a 16% stake in AutoNation.

#14 Six Gates-related documentaries have been released as of 2019.

• “The Machine That Changed the World,” produced in 1990
• “Triumph of the Nerds” released on April 14, 1996
• “Nerds 2.0.1” produced in 1998
• “Waiting for Superman” and “The Virtual Revolution.” were released on 2010
• “Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates” In 2019

#15 In 2020, Gates's net worth was $116 billion.