10 Personal Details Revealed by Bill Gates — Including 1 Secret

Bill Gates needs no introduction. We all know he is the second richest man in the world and the co-founder of software giant, Microsoft. But did you know he was arrested for driving without a license when he was a teenager?

a recent interview with the Daily Mail , he gave interviewers a candid look into the life of a billionaire. Here are 10 things you didn’t know about Bill Gates.

1. His kids sing ‘Billionaire’ to poke fun at him

Jennifer, 15, Rory, 12, and Phoebe, nine, regularly tease their dad by singing the hit song by Travie McCoy and Bruno Mars. They’ve also introduced him to Lady Gaga, albeit only in parts.

“The 12-year-old is always worried about the nine-year-old listening to songs with bad words. So he’s like, “No! Skip that one!” So I only know some Lady Gaga songs”, said Gates.

2. His kids will only receive a small portion of his wealth as inheritance

His three children are rumoured to inherit ‘only’ US$10 million each. Although this was not disclosed in the interview, it’s probably about right. “It will be a minuscule portion of my wealth. It will mean they have to find their own way”, he said.

As a self-made billionaire, he feels that a solid education coupled with money to cover any health issues will be enough for his kids. He hopes that they will strike it big on their own efforts.

3. Bono may or may not have invited Gates backstage when U2 was performing in Seattle…

… But he certainly stayed in the Gates house that night.

4. He has given $28 billion to charity

He and his wife, Melinda, are the board trustees for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. They have given up to $28 billion to various causes. The main cause they are championing is to prevent Malaria in Africa. Gates decided vaccinating the world’s disadvantaged is a cost-effective, simple way to help the very poor.

“The motto of the foundation is that every life has equal value. There are more people dying of malaria than any specific cancer”.

5. His job is no longer at Microsoft

Gates has been very clear that his present involvement in Microsoft is limited. Instead, he has chosen to focus his time on his $37.1 billion charity foundation. And it seems unlikely that he will ever return to helm Microsoft.

He says, ‘My full-time work for the rest of my life is this foundation.’

6. People in Third World countries have no idea who he is.

It’s hard for the people in the third-world to be as awed by Gates. In fact, most don’t even know who he is.

“They don’t know who I am, because it doesn’t relate to their world. I went to one place with the chief minister and someone said, ‘Who is this guy?’ and the chief minister said, ‘This is a white-skinned guy I brought with me.’

7. His pride and joy is the Codex Leicester

This was one of Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks. He bought it in 1994 for a cool $30.8 million.

‘I’m lucky that I own that notebook. I’ve always been amazed by Da Vinci, because he worked out science on his own’.

The avid reader mentioned that it would be one of the first things he’d take with him if his house were on fire. However, he does feel it’d be a waste if his famous art pieces and documents by Issac Newton and Abraham Lincoln should go up in flames.

8. He has a Twitter and Facebook account

But he’s been having problems with Facebook due to the sheer number of requests.

9. He let slip that Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg may be engaged to long-time girlfriend, Priscilla Chan

Gates referred to Chan as Zuckerberg’s fiancée during the interview. Oops.

According to Business Insider:

“Facebook’s head of communications Elliot Schrage suggested that Bill Gates was mistaken. ‘If [Mark is engaged, Bill Gates] knows something I don’t know. Gates’s communications guy just wrote to apologize for the misunderstanding.’”

10. He does not want a legacy

To quote the great man himself: “‘Legacy is a stupid thing! I don’t want a legacy. If people look and see that childhood deaths dropped from nine million a year to four million because of our investment, then wow! I liken what I’m doing now to my old job. I worked with a lot of smart people; some things went well, some didn’t go so well. But when you see how what we did ended up empowering people, it’s a very cool thing”.