Microsoft founder
Bill Gates unveiled: he almost flown from the university
As a child, Bill Gates was gifted, but also “complicated”, as the Microsoft founder wrote in his biography. The billionaire is now grateful for this.
He is one of the great computer pioneers of the 20th century and one of the richest men in the world: Bill Gates has changed the world with his company Microsoft. This year the billionaire turns 80 – and publishes his memoirs on this occasion. In the book “Source Code: My Beginning”, which appears in English in early February, he tells his life story.
In advance prints and interviews, Gates tells of his child and study time. His great talent showed up early – so as not to say: his genius. But that was not recognized immediately. He was “a complicated child,” Gates writes in retrospect. In some cases, he buried himself into projects, was socially little competent and behaved “obvious”. “If I would grow up today, I would be diagnosed with autism,” guessed Gates.
Bill Gates wouldn’t want to exchange
At that time, in the 1970s, neurodiversity was not yet an issue. “In my childhood, the understanding of different information processing in the brain was not widespread,” writes the billionaire in his biography. At that time, his parents would not have had the opportunity to understand why her son was different from other children.
However, his great success as a computer developer would not have been possible without these special features, says Gates – and would therefore not want to change anything. If one would make him a choice whether he wanted to have “normal” social skills, but at the same time only an ordinary ability to concentrate, he would reject, said Gates of the “Times”.
The mega yachts of the tech billionaires: Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Co. sail so luxuriously about the world’s oceans
Name of the yacht: Octopus (IMO 1007213)
Estimated price: 235 million euros
length: 126 meters
Year of construction and shipyard: 2003, Lürssen (Germany)
Owner: The Octopus was one of the world’s largest yachts on its construction and belonged to the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. It was sold in 2021, the current owner is Roger Samuelsson, professional control and owner of the SHL Medical group.
© Manfred Segerer / picture Alliance
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“Maybe I forget how painful it was, but I needed my neurodiversity to write the software,” continued the 79-year-old. He wrote his first code during a hike: “I could do it all in my head, for that it takes a lot of concentration.”
Studied in Harvard
His parents would have always supported him and also encouraged him to get in touch with the same age – for example in baseball or with the scouts. Over time, social interaction with others was also easier for him. After school, Gates studied in Harvard. He found the computer and mathematics courses to be too simple, while other fellow students envied him around his good grades.
In his biography, Gates also says that he almost flown from the university because he too often used the computer room and brought people who actually had no access. Among other things, Paul Allen, with whom he later founded Microsoft. Gates only got a warning, but broke off his studies after only two years and concentrated on the work for Microsoft.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
