Bill Gates: Biography, Net Worth, Philanthropy, and Current Activities

There aren’t many people whose name instantly conjures both the dawn of personal computing and the fight against malaria. Bill Gates fits that bill, a figure who helped put a computer on every desk and then poured the resulting fortune into saving millions of lives.

Full name: William Henry Gates III ·
Born: October 28, 1955 ·
Known for: Co-founding Microsoft ·
Net worth (2026): $107.7 billion (Forbes #18) ·
Philanthropy: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Six key facts trace the arc of Bill Gates’ life from a Seattle childhood to becoming one of the most influential figures in technology and global health.

What is Bill Gates so famous for?

Co-founding Microsoft

Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft in 1975 with Paul Allen after dropping out of Harvard University (Wikipedia). The partnership created the software that powered the PC revolution. Microsoft launched Windows 1.0 in 1985, and the company went public in 1986, making Gates a multi-millionaire. He served as CEO until 2000 and remained chairman until 2014. Gates stepped down from day-to-day roles at Microsoft to focus full-time on philanthropy (Bloomberg Billionaires Index).

Philanthropy with the Gates Foundation

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was established in 2000 (Wikipedia). As of the end of 2024, Gates and his ex-wife had donated about $60 billion to the foundation, according to the foundation itself, as cited by Yahoo Finance. Gates said in 2025 that his total charitable donations have reached $100 billion (Wikipedia). The foundation focuses on global health, education, and poverty alleviation.

Global health and climate initiatives

In 2015, Gates founded Breakthrough Energy to address climate change through clean energy innovation. He has also authored books including How to Avoid a Climate Disaster and How to Prevent the Next Pandemic, and regularly publishes on his blog, GatesNotes.

What is Bill Gates doing right now?

Chair of the Gates Foundation

Gates serves as Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. After his divorce from Melinda French Gates in 2021, the two agreed to continue working together at the foundation for two years, after which Melinda stepped down as co-chair (Wikipedia).

Founder of Breakthrough Energy

Through Breakthrough Energy, Gates invests in and advocates for clean energy solutions. The initiative has funded companies working on advanced nuclear power, green steel, and carbon capture.

Author and blogger

Gates continues to publish on GatesNotes, where he writes about global health, climate change, and book recommendations. His most recent book, How to Prevent the Next Pandemic, was published in 2022.

Gates announced in 2025 that he intends to donate 99% of his wealth over the next two decades, with the Gates Foundation scheduled to close by December 31, 2045 (New York Post).

Who is richer, Trump or Bill Gates?

Gates’ fortune dwarfs Trump’s by a wide margin. Three key data points illustrate the gap.

Gates’ net worth is estimated at over $100 billion by Forbes, with Bloomberg reporting about $124 billion in 2025 after recalculating for charitable giving (Yahoo Finance). The two billionaires have publicly traded barbs over the years. Trump has called Gates multiple times to complain about his foundation giving, according to a Guardian report citing Gates’ memoir. When asked about Trump in an interview, Gates said he wishes Trump understood the importance of global health initiatives. Setting aside political style, the core difference is that Gates built his wealth from a scalable technology product, while Trump’s wealth is tied to physical assets and brand licensing.

What religion is Bill Gates?

Bill Gates’ religious background

Gates was raised in a Congregationalist Christian household in Seattle. His family attended church regularly during his childhood (Wikipedia).

Public statements on religion

In interviews, Gates has described himself as agnostic. He has stated that he does not believe in a personal God and that he places more trust in science and reason than in religious doctrine. He is not formally affiliated with any organized religion. When it comes to religion, Gates represents a shift from traditional American Christianity toward secular humanism — a stance reflected in his foundation’s evidence-based approach to global health.

Does Bill regret divorcing Melinda?

Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates announced their divorce in May 2021 after 27 years of marriage. The settlement was not publicly disclosed, though both agreed to continue working together at the Gates Foundation. In interviews, Gates has said he regrets aspects of the divorce — particularly the impact on their family and the public scrutiny — but he has not explicitly stated he regrets the divorce itself. He has spoken positively about Melinda’s contributions to the foundation, calling her partnership vital to their philanthropic success. The divorce settlement reportedly involved a complex separation of their shared wealth, though the official terms remain private. Melinda French Gates stepped down as co-chair of the foundation in 2024 to focus on her own philanthropic vehicle, Pivotal Ventures.

Timeline

• October 28, 1955: Born in Seattle, Washington (Wikipedia)
• 1975: Co-founded Microsoft with Paul Allen (Wikipedia)
• 1985: Microsoft launched Windows 1.0 (Wikipedia)
• 1994: Married Melinda French (Wikipedia)
• 2000: Stepped down as Microsoft CEO; founded Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Wikipedia)
• 2008: Left day-to-day role at Microsoft (Wikipedia)
• 2010: Joined The Giving Pledge (Wikipedia)
• 2015: Founded Breakthrough Energy (Wikipedia)
• 2021: Divorced Melinda French Gates (Wikipedia)
• 2022: Published How to Prevent the Next Pandemic (Wikipedia)
• 2025: Announced plan to donate 99% of wealth; foundation to close by 2045 (New York Post)

Confirmed facts vs. what’s unclear

Key quotes from Bill Gates

“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.”

Bill Gates, GatesNotes (2018)

In a 2022 interview with The New York Times, Gates said he was doing what he could to move forward and work with Melinda on the foundation — framing the divorce through the lens of institutional continuity rather than personal grievance.

In another interview, Gates stated that innovation is the only way to solve climate change (Bloomberg Billionaires Index), a remark that aligns with his foundation’s emphasis on technological solutions over policy alone.

One striking pattern across Gates’ interviews: he consistently frames his work in terms of systems and solutions rather than personal sentiment. When discussing his divorce, he pivots to the foundation’s continuity. When asked about Trump, he returns to the data on global health. That intellectual discipline has defined both his software career and his philanthropy, and it shapes the way he approaches every public challenge today. For anyone watching how the ultra-wealthy deploy influence, Gates is the purest example of a data-driven philanthropist — but the trade-off is a public persona that can appear detached from emotion. For the Gates Foundation’s beneficiaries, the implication is clear: the foundation’s work will continue at full force until 2045, after which the world will need new institutions to fill the gap.

Frequently asked questions

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