Bill Gates
Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft, rewrote the rules of personal computing, and is now racing to give away nearly his entire fortune before shutting down the Gates Foundation for good.
Bill Gates: From Software King to Philanthropist on a Deadline
Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington. He dropped out of Harvard to co-found Microsoft with Paul Allen in 1975 — a decision that would reshape how the world interacts with computers. Windows and Office became the operating backbone of modern business, and Gates became one of the most recognizable names in technology history.
He stepped down as Microsoft CEO in 2000, transitioned out of the chairman role in 2014, and left the board entirely in 2020. He is not Microsoft’s CEO today — that role belongs to Satya Nadella. Anyone still calling Gates the CEO is simply wrong.
Since leaving Microsoft’s day-to-day operations, Gates has repositioned himself as one of the world’s most prominent philanthropists. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has poured tens of billions of dollars into global health, vaccine distribution, and poverty reduction. In a notable escalation of that mission, Gates has committed to donating the vast majority of his wealth and has announced plans to accelerate the Foundation’s work and ultimately close it down.
In 2021, Gates and Melinda French Gates announced their divorce after 27 years of marriage. The split drew significant media attention, but the financial terms of their settlement have not been publicly disclosed in verified detail — treating any specific figures as fact would be speculation.
Gates remains a dominant figure in public discourse: a symbol of tech-era wealth, a lightning rod for conspiracy theories (which have no verified factual basis), and an increasingly urgent voice on global health and climate. That combination of enormous influence and public controversy keeps him perpetually in the search rankings.
People also ask
- Where does Bill Gates live?#
- Gates is widely reported to live primarily in Medina, Washington — a wealthy suburb just east of Seattle on the shores of Lake Washington. His compound there, sometimes called 'Xanadu 2.0,' has been publicly documented for decades. He has also been reported to own properties in other states, but Medina is his established primary residence.
- What is Bill Gates's nationality?#
- Bill Gates is American. He was born in Seattle, Washington, and holds U.S. citizenship. There is no credible public record of him holding any other nationality.
- How old is Bill Gates?#
- Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955, making him 70 years old as of 2026. He has been notably open about aging and has spoken publicly about how it shapes his sense of urgency around philanthropic goals.
- How tall is Bill Gates?#
- Bill Gates is commonly reported to be around 5 feet 10 inches tall (approximately 177–178 cm). This figure circulates widely in media profiles, though he has not made an official statement about his exact height.
- How much money did Bill Gates have to give his ex-wife?#
- The verified financial terms of the Gates divorce settlement have not been publicly disclosed. Figures that circulate online are estimates or speculation — not confirmed facts. What is documented is that Melinda French Gates became an independent billionaire philanthropist following the divorce, but the precise settlement amount is not a matter of verified public record.
- What religion is Bill Gates now?#
- Gates has described himself in interviews as not being a firm believer in organized religion growing up, and has called himself 'not a religious person' in the traditional sense. In a 2013 Rolling Stone interview he expressed a degree of agnosticism about certain beliefs. He has not publicly announced a conversion or a specific religious affiliation, so any claim that he follows a particular faith should be treated as unconfirmed.
- Who's richer, Steve Jobs or Bill Gates?#
- Bill Gates — and it's not remotely close. Steve Jobs, who passed away in October 2011, had an estate estimated at roughly $10–11 billion at the time of his death, largely tied to his Disney stock and Apple holdings. Gates's publicly estimated wealth runs into the hundreds of billions, even after decades of large-scale charitable giving. Gates is in an entirely different wealth tier.
- Who's richer, Bezos or Bill Gates?#
- This fluctuates constantly with stock markets, so any single answer has a short shelf life. As of recent Forbes and Bloomberg estimates, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates trade places on the rankings depending on Amazon and other asset valuations, but both typically sit in the top five or ten wealthiest people on Earth. Neither has a certified, audited public figure — treat real-time rankings from Forbes or Bloomberg as the best available, not as gospel.
- What religion has the most billionaires?#
- Based on analyses of Forbes billionaire lists, Christianity — particularly Protestantism and Catholicism — accounts for the largest raw number of billionaires globally, largely reflecting the economic weight of the United States, Europe, and Latin America. However, when adjusted for share of the global population, Jewish communities are statistically over-represented on billionaire lists. These are demographic patterns from published research, not moral claims.
- Who bill gates dating?#
- After his 2021 divorce, Gates was publicly linked to Paula Hurd, widow of former Oracle CEO Mark Hurd. They have appeared together at public events and have been reported as a couple by multiple mainstream outlets including People and The Wall Street Journal. Gates has not made an extensive public statement about the relationship, but it is not a rumor — it has been widely documented.
- Who's bill gates wife?#
- Bill Gates does not currently have a wife — he has been divorced since 2021. He was previously married to Melinda French Gates, now known as Melinda French Gates following the divorce. He is currently reported to be in a relationship with Paula Hurd, but they are not married.
- Who's bill gates ex wife?#
- Melinda French Gates is Bill Gates's ex-wife. They married on January 1, 1994, in Hawaii, had three children together, and jointly built the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation into one of the largest private charitable foundations in history. Their divorce was finalized in 2021, after which she rebranded the foundation under her own name and has continued her independent philanthropic work.
- Who's bill gates girlfriend?#
- Paula Hurd is widely reported to be Bill Gates's girlfriend. She is the widow of Mark Hurd, who co-led Oracle before his death in 2019. The two have been photographed together at high-profile events, and their relationship has been confirmed by multiple reputable outlets.
- Who's bill gates new girlfriend?#
- Paula Hurd. She's not exactly 'new' at this point — the relationship has been publicly reported since at least 2023 and appears to be an established, ongoing partnership. She has a background in business and philanthropy and moves in the same elite tech and social circles as Gates.
- Who's bill gates married to?#
- Bill Gates is not currently married. He divorced Melinda French Gates in 2021, ending a 27-year marriage. As of the latest publicly available information, he has not remarried.
- What bill gates net worth?#
- No precise figure can be stated as fact — Gates's wealth is tied to investments, the value of which shifts daily, and there is no certified public audit. Forbes and Bloomberg regularly publish estimates placing him among the top wealthiest people on Earth, typically in the range of over $100 billion, but these are estimates, not verified totals. His ongoing large-scale charitable giving also continuously reduces his personal holdings.
- When bill gates divorced?#
- Bill and Melinda Gates announced their intention to divorce in May 2021, and the divorce was finalized later that same year, in August 2021, in King County, Washington. It ended a marriage of 27 years.
- When bill gates got divorced?#
- The divorce was finalized in August 2021. The couple made their split public via a joint statement on Twitter in May 2021, stating they had 'thought deeply' about the decision and had concluded they could 'no longer grow together as a couple.'
- Why bill gates divorced?#
- The only confirmed, public explanation is the couple's own joint statement: they said they no longer believed they could 'grow together as a couple.' Various news organizations, including The Wall Street Journal, reported on alleged conduct and board-level concerns at Microsoft involving Gates, but Gates has not been charged with or convicted of any crime in connection with those reports. Treat media allegations as reported claims, not established verdicts.
- Why bill gates wife divorced him?#
- Melinda French Gates has been measured but pointed in subsequent interviews. She has indicated the marriage had become untenable for her, and reports — including from The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times — suggested she had concerns about her husband's past behavior and associations. She has not provided a single definitive public statement of the exact reason. What is documented is her own agency in the decision: she retained her own legal and advisory team and has moved forward as an independent philanthropist and public figure on her own terms.