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Every entry — 919 accomplishments at last count — is checked against the public record before publication: primary sources such as SEC filings, foundation reports, published books, and recorded talks where they exist, and reputable secondary coverage where they don't. Entries that can't be verified don't get published, and each one carries its source.

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Co-founded Microsoft with Paul Allen at age 19 — Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1975Wrote his first computer program at age 13 on a GE-225 mainframeMicrosoft's first product: a BASIC interpreter for the Altair 8800IBM licensed MS-DOS from Microsoft in 1980 — the deal that built an empireMicrosoft went public at $21 per share on March 13, 1986Became the world's youngest self-made billionaire at age 31 in 1987Net worth peaked at $101 billion during the dot-com boom of 1999Held the title of world's richest person for 13 of 16 years between 1995 and 2009Windows 95 sold 7 million copies in its first five weeksPredicted the internet's commercial rise in 'The Road Ahead' — 1995Predicted a global pandemic in a 2015 TED Talk — five years before COVID-19Predicted smartphones, social media, and price-comparison shopping in 1999Co-founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000The Gates Foundation is the world's largest private charitable foundationHas donated over $59.5 billion through the Gates Foundation since 2000Signed the Giving Pledge in 2010 — committed to donating 95% of his wealthThe Foundation has helped vaccinate over 1 billion children worldwideStepped down as Microsoft CEO in January 2000 to focus on softwareLeft the Microsoft board entirely in March 2020Co-founded TerraPower in 2006 to develop next-generation nuclear reactorsTerraPower broke ground on its first commercial reactor in Wyoming — 2023Co-founded Breakthrough Energy in 2015 to accelerate global clean energy investmentAwarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama — November 2016Received India's Padma Bhushan, the country's third-highest civilian honor — 2015Harvard gave Gates an honorary degree in 2007 — 32 years after he dropped outReads approximately 50 books per yearHas made over 25 documented predictions that have proven correctMicrosoft surpassed a $500 billion market cap in 1999The Gates Foundation has committed over $21 billion to global health programsAuthored three books: The Road Ahead · Business @ the Speed of Thought · How to Avoid a Climate DisasterCo-founded Microsoft with Paul Allen at age 19 — Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1975Wrote his first computer program at age 13 on a GE-225 mainframeMicrosoft's first product: a BASIC interpreter for the Altair 8800IBM licensed MS-DOS from Microsoft in 1980 — the deal that built an empireMicrosoft went public at $21 per share on March 13, 1986Became the world's youngest self-made billionaire at age 31 in 1987Net worth peaked at $101 billion during the dot-com boom of 1999Held the title of world's richest person for 13 of 16 years between 1995 and 2009Windows 95 sold 7 million copies in its first five weeksPredicted the internet's commercial rise in 'The Road Ahead' — 1995Predicted a global pandemic in a 2015 TED Talk — five years before COVID-19Predicted smartphones, social media, and price-comparison shopping in 1999Co-founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000The Gates Foundation is the world's largest private charitable foundationHas donated over $59.5 billion through the Gates Foundation since 2000Signed the Giving Pledge in 2010 — committed to donating 95% of his wealthThe Foundation has helped vaccinate over 1 billion children worldwideStepped down as Microsoft CEO in January 2000 to focus on softwareLeft the Microsoft board entirely in March 2020Co-founded TerraPower in 2006 to develop next-generation nuclear reactorsTerraPower broke ground on its first commercial reactor in Wyoming — 2023Co-founded Breakthrough Energy in 2015 to accelerate global clean energy investmentAwarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama — November 2016Received India's Padma Bhushan, the country's third-highest civilian honor — 2015Harvard gave Gates an honorary degree in 2007 — 32 years after he dropped outReads approximately 50 books per yearHas made over 25 documented predictions that have proven correctMicrosoft surpassed a $500 billion market cap in 1999The Gates Foundation has committed over $21 billion to global health programsAuthored three books: The Road Ahead · Business @ the Speed of Thought · How to Avoid a Climate Disaster

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Bill Gates Accomplishments

Bill Gates Accomplishments — 919 Verified Events | The Bill Gates Archive

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Education at Harvard, family milestones, notable friendships, and the personal moments behind the public legacy.

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January 2026

Phoebe Gates's AI shopping startup Phia takes off — built with 'no ties to my last name'

Phoebe Gates, the youngest child of Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, has drawn attention for Phia, the AI-powered shopping app she co-founded with Sophia Kianni. Launched in April 2025, Phia scans the web and secondhand marketplaces to find deals on fashion; by early 2026 it had surpassed a million users, grown revenue elevenfold, and raised more than $40 million — including a $35 million round — at a valuation around $185 million, backed by Kleiner Perkins, Kris Jenner, and Hailey Bieber. Notably, Phoebe took no money from her parents, saying she wanted to 'build something generational that has no ties to me, my privilege, or my last name.'

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April 2026

Bill Gates makes a rare red-carpet appearance with girlfriend Paula Hurd at the Breakthrough Prize

Bill Gates made a rare red-carpet appearance with his girlfriend, philanthropist Paula Hurd, at the 12th Breakthrough Prize ceremony in Santa Monica, California, in April 2026. Gates, who confirmed on the Today show in early 2025 that he had a 'serious girlfriend,' has been seen with Hurd — the widow of former Oracle CEO Mark Hurd — at events including the 2024 Olympics and the Breakthrough Prize, and thanked her in the acknowledgments of his memoir 'Source Code.' Hurd chairs the Universal Tennis Foundation and is active in education philanthropy.

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April 2026

House Oversight sets Gates Epstein interview as Pam Bondi appearance is postponed

In April 2026 the House Oversight Committee confirmed that Bill Gates would be interviewed as part of its Jeffrey Epstein investigation, while a planned appearance by Attorney General Pam Bondi was postponed. The scheduling set the stage for Gates's eventual June 10, 2026 closed-door interview. The committee was working through a roster of figures connected to Epstein, sequencing interviews and document requests over several months.

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2026

Rep. Nancy Mace demands Bill Gates testify under oath over Epstein ties

Representative Nancy Mace, a member of the House Oversight Committee, publicly demanded that Bill Gates testify under oath about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, amplifying congressional pressure on the Microsoft co-founder after the Justice Department released Epstein-related documents. The demand was part of a broader Republican-led effort to question wealthy and powerful figures named in the files. Gates ultimately appeared for a closed-door transcribed interview rather than public sworn testimony.

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February 2026

Gates calls Epstein 'draft email' STI allegations 'absurd and completely false'

After the U.S. Justice Department released roughly three million Epstein-related files on January 30, 2026, attention focused on draft emails Jeffrey Epstein apparently wrote to himself in 2013 claiming — without evidence — that he had arranged sexual encounters for Bill Gates and helped Gates obtain medication to hide a sexually transmitted infection from Melinda French Gates. A spokesperson for Gates called the allegations 'absolutely absurd and completely false,' saying the unsent drafts reflected Epstein's frustration at lacking a real relationship with Gates and 'the lengths he would go to entrap and defame.' Gates said the email 'was never sent' and is 'false.' The claims were widely reported but remain uncorroborated.

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February 2026

Gates abruptly cancels India AI Summit keynote amid fresh Epstein scrutiny

In February 2026 Bill Gates pulled out of delivering a keynote address at a major artificial-intelligence summit in India just hours before he was due on stage, even though he was already in the country and his attendance had been confirmed days earlier. The Gates Foundation said only that, 'to ensure the focus remains on the AI Summit's key priorities,' Gates would not deliver the keynote, and that the Foundation would instead be represented by a senior executive. The withdrawal followed a newly released tranche of Epstein-related files that renewed scrutiny of Gates's past association with the financier. The episode was widely covered as a sign of the reputational pressure the Epstein files were placing on Gates's public engagements.

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Personal

June 2026

House Oversight Committee lines up further Epstein interviews after questioning Gates

Following its June 2026 interview of Bill Gates, the House Oversight Committee signaled that its Epstein investigation would continue with interviews of other prominent figures connected to the late financier, reportedly including investment manager Leon Black, former Clinton aide Doug Band, and former Barclays chief executive Jes Staley. Additional interviews were said to be possible in July, potentially extending to attorney Alan Dershowitz and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. The widening scope underscored that Gates was one of several wealthy and well-connected individuals whose dealings with Epstein the committee sought to document. Gates's own session was conducted behind closed doors, with a transcript to follow.

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June 10, 2026

Gates tells House Oversight Committee that meeting Epstein was 'a grave error in judgment'

On June 10, 2026, Bill Gates sat for a closed-door interview with the U.S. House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, telling lawmakers that meeting Epstein was 'a grave error in judgment' and that he 'never witnessed nor had any indication that Epstein was engaged in ongoing criminal conduct.' Gates said Epstein had tried to use information about Gates's marital infidelities 'to pressure me to re-engage with him' — an attempt Gates described as unsuccessful — and stated he cut off contact in December 2014 after their fundraising discussions stalled. He maintained that his contact with Epstein, which began in 2011, had been aimed at raising money for global health. The interview was not recorded; the committee said it would release a transcript.

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February 2026

Bill Gates Apologizes to Gates Foundation Staff at Town Hall Meeting Over Epstein Association

In February 2026, Bill Gates addressed Gates Foundation staff at an all-hands town hall meeting, apologizing for the distraction and reputational harm caused by renewed coverage of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein following the DOJ document release. According to attendees cited by Reuters and The Guardian, Gates stated he recognized his judgment had been 'badly mistaken' and that he understood why staff felt their work was being overshadowed. He committed to a third-party review of Foundation governance and said he would accept its recommendations.

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February 2026

Melinda French Gates Says Epstein Revelations Caused Her 'Unbelievable Sadness' in First Post-Divorce Interview

In a February 2026 interview with CBS News — her first extended television interview since the 2021 divorce — Melinda French Gates stated that learning of the full scope of Bill Gates's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein had caused her 'unbelievable sadness' and confirmed it was a key factor in her decision to end the marriage. She said she had first raised the issue with Gates directly after the October 2019 New York Times story. French Gates also praised the DOJ's document release as overdue transparency for Epstein's victims.

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January 2026

DOJ Releases Three Million Epstein Documents Including Emails Referencing Gates

In January 2026, the United States Department of Justice released approximately 3 million documents from its investigation of Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking network, including emails, calendars, and financial records referencing Bill Gates's meetings with Epstein between 2011 and 2014. The documents confirmed the timeline reported by The New York Times in 2019, added detail on Epstein's internal communications about cultivating Gates, and showed that Epstein explicitly referenced his relationship with Gates when soliciting other donors and academic institutions. The release renewed public scrutiny of Gates and prompted the Gates Foundation to issue a public statement.

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February 2026

Melinda Gates cites Epstein ties as factor in divorce — states Gates 'has to answer' for it

Melinda French Gates publicly stated that Bill Gates has to answer for his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, in remarks reported weeks after a record $8 billion asset transfer to her following the divorce. Melinda had reportedly confronted Gates about his Epstein meetings — which she learned of through 2019 press coverage — and sources indicated the relationship was a factor in the deterioration of their marriage. Her public comments coincided with new congressional scrutiny of the Gates Foundation and the announcement of an independent board investigation into Epstein-related donations.

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No algorithm. No clickbait. No corporate funding. Just one developer and 200+ verified entries — free for every curious person on the internet. If this is worth your time, help keep it alive.

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Personal

2025

In His Memoir, Gates Says He Would Likely Be Diagnosed Autistic Today

In his 2025 memoir 'Source Code: My Beginnings,' Bill Gates wrote that 'if I were growing up today, I probably would be diagnosed on the autism spectrum.' Reflecting on a childhood in which his parents 'struggled with their complicated son,' Gates noted that neurodivergence was poorly understood at the time and the term itself would not be coined until the 1990s. The candid disclosure — which he chose to address explicitly in the book's epilogue — was widely covered as a notable public reflection on neurodiversity by one of the world's most recognizable figures.

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May 2025

Gates meets Indonesia's President Prabowo to push child-survival and a TB vaccine trial

In May 2025 Bill Gates visited Jakarta, where he was welcomed at the Merdeka Palace by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto for talks centered on reducing child mortality. Gates praised Indonesia's role in regional vaccine manufacturing through Bio Farma and its investments in digital public infrastructure, and signaled support for the country's new universal free school-lunch program and for testing a Gates-backed tuberculosis vaccine in Indonesia. The visit reflected the foundation's deepening engagement with Southeast Asia's most populous nation on health and nutrition.

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2025

Gates embraces life as a grandfather as daughter Jennifer becomes a doctor

Bill Gates has embraced life as a grandfather: his eldest child, Jennifer Gates Nassar — now a physician who earned her medical degree from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in 2024 and began a pediatric residency — and her husband Nayel Nassar welcomed daughters Leila (2023) and Mia (2024). Gates has said becoming a grandparent 'has given me a whole new lens to see the world through' and that it keeps him motivated to ensure his grandchildren 'inherit a better world than they were born into.' The reflections accompanied his stated plan to leave his children only a small fraction of his fortune.

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January 2025

Gates says he was 'frankly impressed' by Trump after a three-hour Mar-a-Lago dinner

Bill Gates revealed that he had a roughly three-hour dinner with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on December 27, 2024, and came away 'frankly impressed' by the president-elect. Gates said he used the private meeting to press the case for continued investment in global health — discussing HIV, polio, energy, and nuclear technology — and found Trump genuinely engaged rather than dismissive. The dinner, attended only by the two men and an aide each, came as Gates sought to preserve support for foreign aid amid the incoming administration's plans to slash it. Their cordial tone contrasted with later clashes over USAID cuts.

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May 2025

Gates releases his 2025 summer reading list of 'the best memoirs I've read'

In May 2025 Bill Gates released his annual summer reading list, an eclectic set of five memoirs he called among 'the best memoirs I've read' — fitting, as he had just published his own memoir, 'Source Code,' in February. His picks included Katharine Graham's 'Personal History,' Nicholas Kristof's 'Chasing Hope,' Trevor Noah's 'Born a Crime,' and Bono's 'Surrender.' Gates said reading great memoirs helped him think about how to be open about his own challenges, and praised the books as reminders that 'great leaders can come from unexpected places.'

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April 2025

Gates says his children will inherit 'less than 1%' of his fortune

In April 2025 Bill Gates said his three children — Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe — would inherit 'less than 1 percent' of his fortune, a sum that, given his roughly $100-plus billion net worth, still amounts to more than $1 billion each. 'I decided it wouldn't be a favor to them' to leave a vast inheritance, Gates said, adding, 'It's not a dynasty, I'm not asking them to run Microsoft. I want to give them a chance to have their own earnings and success.' The remarks aligned with his pledge to give away nearly all of his wealth through the Gates Foundation.

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This archive runs on donations, not ads.

No algorithm. No clickbait. No corporate funding. Just one developer and 200+ verified entries — free for every curious person on the internet. If this is worth your time, help keep it alive.

Support the archive →

Personal

February 2025

Gates confirms 'Source Code' is the first of a planned three-volume memoir

Bill Gates's memoir 'Source Code: My Beginnings,' published February 4, 2025, is the first of a planned three-volume autobiography: the debut covers his childhood and the founding of Microsoft, with later books intended to address his Microsoft years and his philanthropy. The candid first installment debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list and reflected on his family, his competitiveness, and his early life. Gates has said the milestones of turning 70 and Microsoft turning 50 prompted him to look back.

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March 2025

Gates meets PM Modi in New Delhi to discuss AI, health and India's development

Bill Gates met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi to discuss technology, health, agriculture, and India's long-term development goals, with Gates praising the country's innovations in global health and digital public infrastructure. The Gates Foundation has worked with the Indian government for two decades on healthcare, agriculture, and digital transformation, including AI tools that support rural health workers. The meeting reflected India's growing centrality to Gates's philanthropy and technology interests.

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October 28, 2025

Bill Gates turns 70 and reflects on legacy, memoir, and a focus on the brain

Bill Gates turned 70 on October 28, 2025, a milestone he marked with public reflection on his life, his legacy, and the next phase of his philanthropy. Saying that reaching 70 — as Microsoft turned 50 — finally prompted him to 'look back a bit,' Gates had published 'Source Code,' the first installment of a planned two-part memoir, earlier in the year. He also signaled a growing personal interest in neuroscience and brain health, shaped in part by his father's experience with Alzheimer's disease. The birthday coincided with Gates's accelerated push to give away nearly all of his fortune before the Gates Foundation's planned closure in 2045.

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October 2025

Dutch court accepts jurisdiction in COVID-19 vaccine civil suit naming Bill Gates

A civil lawsuit filed by seven Dutch plaintiffs who say they were injured by COVID-19 vaccines names Bill Gates alongside former Dutch prime minister and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, members of the Netherlands' COVID-19 Outbreak Management Team, and the Dutch State, alleging they misled the public about vaccine safety. A court in the Northern Netherlands ruled it has jurisdiction to hear the case, allowing the civil proceedings to move forward. Widely shared online claims that Gates had 'lost,' been 'indicted,' or been 'ordered to stand trial in person' are unsupported: fact-checkers note the matter is an unresolved civil suit, not a criminal trial, and that it is unlikely Gates will personally appear. The case had drawn little mainstream coverage despite reaching more than a million views on social media.

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Publishes memoir 'Source Code,' debuting at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list

Personal

February 4, 2025

Publishes memoir 'Source Code,' debuting at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list

Gates published his first memoir, 'Source Code: My Beginnings,' covering his childhood in Seattle, early passion for computing, Harvard years, and the founding of Microsoft. The book offered candid reflections on his relationship with his parents, his intensely competitive drive, and the experiences that shaped his worldview. It debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list.

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2024

Gates's Guilty Pleasure: 'Cheeseburgers Are My Favorite Food'

Bill Gates has a confession that sits awkwardly with his climate crusade: 'Cheeseburgers are my favorite food,' he has written, 'but I wish they weren't.' A well-documented fan of fast food, Gates loves the animal fat that makes a real beef burger taste good — even as he warns that beef's methane footprint is a climate problem and invests in plant-based and lab-grown alternatives trying to recreate it. The tension between his palate and his principles has become a recurring, self-aware theme in his writing.

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[FAQ.LOG] · grep 'bill gates accomplishments'

The Questions Everyone Asks

QUERY_01

What are Bill Gates's greatest accomplishments?

Co-founding Microsoft in 1975 and leading it to become the world's largest software company; shipping MS-DOS and Windows, which put a personal computer on hundreds of millions of desks; co-founding the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000, the largest private charitable foundation in history; donating more than $59.5 billion to global health, education, and poverty reduction; and backing breakthrough work in vaccines, polio eradication, and clean energy through TerraPower and Breakthrough Energy.

QUERY_02

What is Bill Gates best known for?

Two things: building Microsoft — co-writing Altair BASIC in 1975, licensing MS-DOS to IBM in 1981, and shipping Windows to the world — and then giving the resulting fortune away. Since 2000 he has been equally known as co-chair of the Gates Foundation, the driving force behind global vaccination campaigns, polio eradication efforts, and pandemic preparedness advocacy.

QUERY_03

What did Bill Gates actually create?

Gates is a programmer by training. He co-wrote the original Altair BASIC interpreter with Paul Allen in 1975 — Microsoft's first product. His larger creation was the company itself: under his leadership as CEO from 1975 to 2000, Microsoft shipped MS-DOS, Windows, Office, and Internet Explorer — the software stack that defined the personal computer era.

QUERY_04

What has Bill Gates done since leaving Microsoft?

He moved to full-time philanthropy in 2008 and left Microsoft's board in 2020. Since then the Gates Foundation has passed $77 billion in total grants; he co-founded TerraPower (advanced nuclear energy) and Breakthrough Energy (climate investment), published How to Avoid a Climate Disaster in 2021, funded mRNA vaccine research critical to the COVID-19 response, and committed 99% of his remaining wealth to the Foundation, which will spend down and close by 2045.

EOF · events_index.db · 919 records on file — every one documented, every one sourced

Bill Gates Accomplishments

Bill Gates Accomplishments

Phoebe Gates's AI shopping startup Phia takes off — built with 'no ties to my last name'

Bill Gates makes a rare red-carpet appearance with girlfriend Paula Hurd at the Breakthrough Prize

House Oversight sets Gates Epstein interview as Pam Bondi appearance is postponed

Rep. Nancy Mace demands Bill Gates testify under oath over Epstein ties

Gates calls Epstein 'draft email' STI allegations 'absurd and completely false'

Gates abruptly cancels India AI Summit keynote amid fresh Epstein scrutiny

House Oversight Committee lines up further Epstein interviews after questioning Gates

Gates tells House Oversight Committee that meeting Epstein was 'a grave error in judgment'

Bill Gates Apologizes to Gates Foundation Staff at Town Hall Meeting Over Epstein Association

Melinda French Gates Says Epstein Revelations Caused Her 'Unbelievable Sadness' in First Post-Divorce Interview

DOJ Releases Three Million Epstein Documents Including Emails Referencing Gates

Melinda Gates cites Epstein ties as factor in divorce — states Gates 'has to answer' for it

In His Memoir, Gates Says He Would Likely Be Diagnosed Autistic Today

Gates meets Indonesia's President Prabowo to push child-survival and a TB vaccine trial

Gates embraces life as a grandfather as daughter Jennifer becomes a doctor

Gates says he was 'frankly impressed' by Trump after a three-hour Mar-a-Lago dinner

Gates releases his 2025 summer reading list of 'the best memoirs I've read'

Gates says his children will inherit 'less than 1%' of his fortune

Gates confirms 'Source Code' is the first of a planned three-volume memoir

Gates meets PM Modi in New Delhi to discuss AI, health and India's development

Bill Gates turns 70 and reflects on legacy, memoir, and a focus on the brain

Dutch court accepts jurisdiction in COVID-19 vaccine civil suit naming Bill Gates

Publishes memoir 'Source Code,' debuting at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list

Gates's Guilty Pleasure: 'Cheeseburgers Are My Favorite Food'

The Questions Everyone Asks

What are Bill Gates's greatest accomplishments?

What is Bill Gates best known for?

What did Bill Gates actually create?

What has Bill Gates done since leaving Microsoft?

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