Bill Gates Net Worth

How much is Bill Gates’ net worth?

net worth: $113 billion
age: 68
Birth: October 28, 1955
gender: Male
Height: 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
country of origin: United States of america
Sources of funds: Founder of Microsoft
Last Updated: August 2, 2024

Bill Gates is an American entrepreneur, computer programmer, and founder of Microsoft who has an estimated net worth of $113 billion.

Gates’ shares in the company made him one of the wealthiest people in the world and, for a long time, the richest person globally. He founded Microsoft with Paul Allen in 1975 and it has since become the world’s largest PC software company.

quick Facts

  • He was born on October 28, 1955 as William Henry Gates III.
  • He began programming when he was a teenager.
  • Bill Gates and Paul Allen started the computer software company Microsoft in 1975 after dropping out of Harvard.
  • In 1977, Microsoft opened its first international office in Japan.
  • The first retail version of Microsoft Windows was released in 1985.
  • Gates became a billionaire in 1987.
  • Bill Gates and Melinda French were married in 1994.
  • In 2008, Gates resigned as CEO and focused on working for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which he founded with his wife.

early life

Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955 in Seattle, Washington.

He is the son of William H. Gates Sr. and Mary Maxwell Gates. The Gates family strongly encouraged competition. No matter what it was; there was always a reward for winning and a penalty for losing.

Bill enrolled at Lakeside School when he was 13. When he was in the eighth grade, the school’s Mothers Club used the proceeds to purchase a Teletype Model 33 ASR terminal for the school’s students and a block of computer time on a General Electric (GE) computer.

Gates became interested in programming the GE system in BASIC and was excused from math classes to pursue his interest. It was on this machine that he created his first software program – a game of tic-tac-toe that allowed players to compete against the computer.

Computer Center Corporation (CCC) eventually banned Gates for the summer after it caught him and three of his friends exploiting a bug in the operating system to obtain free computer time.

The four students formed the Lakeside Programmers Club to earn some money. At the end of the ban, they offered to find bugs in CCC’s software in exchange for computer time. It was then that Gates began studying coding. He also coded the school’s class scheduling system. Initially, he did this work in collaboration with Kent Evans, but unfortunately, he died in a mountaineering accident at the end of their junior year, so Allen took over.

During their final year, Allen and Gates founded their first company, Traf-O-Data. They built traffic counters on the Intel 8008 processor.

He got admission to Harvard in 1973. During his university visit he developed the BASIC programming language for the world’s first PC – the MITS Affair.

However, Gates dropped out a few years later without completing his degree so that he and Paul Allen could focus on founding Microsoft.

Livelihood

Bill Gates CareerBill Gates Career

Gates’ career began a little stealthily. He approached MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems) and said that he and others were working on a BASIC interpreter for them. However, in reality, he didn’t even start coding it. He just wanted to arouse their interest.

After the demo date was set, Gates and others developed an Altair emulator that ran on a microcomputer and a rudimentary interpreter. The presentation was a success, and the interpreter was distributed as Altair BASIC. Their partnership was named “Micro-Soft”.

In 1976, they dropped the hyphen and became simply Microsoft, thus trademarking the name. That same year, they became independent from MITS.

In 1985, Gates and Allen launched the first retail version of Microsoft Windows. When Bill and Paul Allen started Microsoft, their dream was to bring a computer to every home. At the time, this dream seemed very ridiculous.

The company was very successful from the start. Just two years after its founding, Bill Gates and Paul Allen opened their first international office in Japan. They also moved from Albuquerque to Washington.

Although his dream seemed impossible to realize at the time, today it has become a reality in many parts of the world, and personal technology has become an integral part of society.

His dedication to the company’s success is certainly admirable – for the first few years, Gates personally reviewed every line of code the company shipped, and rewrote it if necessary.

Bill is passionate about the work of Microsoft and will always remain involved with the company, including in his current role as a board member and technology advisor. However, he stepped down as Microsoft CEO in 2008. He remains Microsoft’s chairman until 2020.

These days, Bill focuses most of his time on his and his ex-wife’s work through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which aims to improve global health, medical research, education, and gender equality.

People are often surprised to hear that his work has many similarities to his work at Microsoft.

In both cases, he brings together intelligent people and works with them to solve big, challenging problems.

estimated net worth

Bill Gates’ net worth will be $113 billion in 2024.

Bill Gates net worth has increased over time

Year net worth
2009 $40 billion
2010 $53 billion
2011 $56 billion
2012 $61 billion
2013 $67 billion
2014 $76 billion
2015 $79.2 billion
2016 $75 billion
2017 $86 billion
2018 $90 billion
2019 $96.5 billion
2020 $98 billion
2021 $124 billion
2022 $129 billion
2023 $104 billion
2024 $124.8 billion

personal life

Gates married Melinda French, now Melinda Gates, on the Hawaiian island of Lanai in 1994. She was a Microsoft employee and worked in the product development department. She and Gates met at a company dinner and Gates soon asked her out on a date.

Melinda worked for Microsoft until 1996, eventually becoming general manager of information products.

The couple has three children: Phoebe Adele, Rory John, and Jennifer Katherine. In 2021, they announced their separation after nearly thirty years together.

Despite being divorced, he remains co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which was founded in 2000 by him and his wife by merging three family foundations. At the time, it was the world’s largest transparently run charitable organization.

In 2010, Gates and his wife, investor Warren Buffett, signed a document they called the Giving Pledge, in which they promised to give at least half of their wealth to charity over time.

Highlights

Here are some highlights of Bill Gates’ career:

  • Attended Lakeside School, where he first used a computer (1967)
  • Started programming with Paul Allen at the Computer Center (1968)
  • Admission to Harvard University (1973)
  • Founding of Microsoft with Paul Allen (1975)
  • Establishment of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (2002)
  • Bill helped launch TerraPower, which aimed to provide the world with a more affordable, safer, and environmentally friendly form of nuclear power (2006)
  • The bill launches a $5.5 billion effort to eradicate polio by 2018 (2013)

How does Bill Gates spend his money?

With all the money he has, you might be wondering, “How does billionaire Bill Gates spend his wealth?” While he agreed to donate all (or at least half) of his wealth by signing the Giving Pledge, there are a few things the Microsoft co-founder spends a lot of money on.

Bill Gates owns a luxurious compound in Medina near Lake Washington. Gates purchased it in 1998 for $2 million; as of today, the property is worth over $120 million. Some of the amenities you’ll find there include a 60 square foot swimming pool with an underwater music system, a 2500 square foot gym, and a 1,000 square foot dining room.

He also has a property in California, the 228-acre Rancho Paseanas, which includes a racetrack and five barns.

Gates reportedly owns a private jet – a Bombardier BD-700 Global Express, which costs around $40 million.

His wealth is managed by Cascade Investments, a holding company created using proceeds from Microsoft stock sales and dividends. Gates used it to make several investments, including partial ownership of the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts, or the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco (along with several other unnamed buyers). According to the Wall Street Journal, Gates owns about half of the hotel chain Four Seasons Holdings.

The company owns stakes in several publicly traded companies, such as the Canadian National Railway. Finally, Gates, along with several others, launched a $1 billion investment fund called “Breakthrough Energy.”

Favorite quotes from Bill Gates

“Success is a lousy teacher. It makes intelligent people think they can’t lose.” – Bill Gates

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” – Bill Gates

“It’s fine to celebrate success, but it’s even more important to learn from failure.” – Bill Gates

“If you can’t make it good, at least make it look good.” – Bill Gates

“As we look to the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” — Bill Gates

“Life isn’t fair; get used to it.” – Bill Gates

Check out our big collection of the best Bill Gates quotes!

How did Bill Gates become rich?

Bill Gates’ net worth comes primarily from co-founding Microsoft and owning Microsoft shares.

Is Bill Gates the richest person in the world?

No. Currently, there are a few other people whose estimated net worth is higher than Bill Gates – for example, Amazon founder – Jeff Bezos. However, he was the richest person in the world on several occasions (often non-stop), mainly between 1997 and 2008.

Is Bill Gates Married?

Bill Gates is not currently married. In fact, he is divorced, as in 2021 he and his ex-wife Melinda Gates announced that they were separating after nearly three decades together. Despite the divorce, they are still co-chairs of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

How does Bill Gates spend his free time?

The Microsoft co-founder loves to spend his free time playing and watching tennis. He is also an avid reader and has a large collection of books.

What do you think about Bill Gates’ net worth? Comment below.

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