BILL GATES
Co-founder of Microsoft, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Bill Gates built the most dominant software company in history by being intensely competitive — and that is an understatement from someone who once held a near-monopoly on personal computer operating systems. He has since given away more money than most countries have in their GDP and still keeps getting richer. The compounding is mildly unsettling.
Net Worth
$130B+
Nationality
American
Time Horizon
Generational
Risk Appetite
6 / 10
Net Worth Context
- · Could buy every NFL team simultaneously and still have $-30B left.
- · Earns roughly $12,367 per minute — assuming 5% annual return.
CAREER & BACKGROUND
Bill Gates was born in Seattle in 1955. He taught himself to program on a PDP-10 at age 13.
He enrolled at Harvard in 1973, dropped out in 1975, and moved to Albuquerque with Paul Allen to found Microsoft. Their break came when they licensed an operating system to IBM for the original PC — and crucially, retained the rights to sell it to anyone else.
That decision made Microsoft. Windows became the standard operating system for the world.
Gates became the world's richest person in 1995 and held that title for much of the next 15 years. He transitioned out of Microsoft's day-to-day around 2000 and fully moved into philanthropy via the Gates Foundation.
COMPANIES & ROLES
Microsoft (co-founder, former CEO and chairman). Cascade Investment LLC (his personal investment vehicle).
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (co-chair). Major holdings through Cascade include Canadian National Railway, Deere & Company, and significant farmland.
Early Microsoft equity remains a massive portion of his net worth.
INVESTING STYLE & PHILOSOPHY
Gates invests through Cascade Investment LLC in established, cash-generative businesses — railroads, waste management, agricultural equipment, farmland. His biggest single Cascade holding for years was Canadian National Railway.
He has sold most of his Microsoft stock over time. His investment philosophy outside Microsoft mirrors Buffett's: durable businesses with pricing power, bought at reasonable prices.
THE PLAYBOOK
Money Habits
He wakes up early, exercises on a treadmill while watching documentaries, and reportedly does the dishes every night. He has said dishes are meditative.
For a man worth $130 billion, the emphasis on routine is either deeply grounded or very good PR. He drove himself to work at Microsoft for years and lived in a normal house long after he could afford otherwise.
BIGGEST WIN
Microsoft Windows. The decision to license MS-DOS to IBM for the PC while retaining the right to sell it to other manufacturers was arguably the most lucrative business decision in tech history.
Every PC manufacturer then licensed Windows. Gates captured the entire PC market without building the hardware.
By 1999, Microsoft's market cap hit $616 billion.
BIGGEST MISTAKE
Missing the internet. Microsoft was late and initially dismissive of the internet as a platform.
Gates eventually course-corrected and wrote the Internet Tidal Wave memo in 1995, redirecting the entire company toward internet strategy. But the delay allowed Netscape to establish footholds, and Microsoft's browser monopoly tactics led to the landmark antitrust case United States v.
Microsoft in 2000, which threatened to break up the company.
FINANCIAL PHILOSOPHY
His core framework: read obsessively, think long-term, and separate emotion from analysis. He takes annual Think Weeks — solo retreats to a lake cottage in the Pacific Northwest where he reads papers and books for two weeks with no interruptions.
He publishes a reading list twice a year at gatesnotes.com. He has said that the best investment he ever made was paying $100,000 to take Warren Buffett to dinner every year.
FAMILY & PERSONAL LIFE
Married to Melinda French Gates 1994-2021, divorced. Three children: Jennifer, Rory, Phoebe.
His father Bill Gates Sr. was a prominent lawyer and philanthropist who shaped his values around giving back.
Post-divorce he has maintained a private personal life.
EDUCATION
Harvard University — studied mathematics and computer science. Dropped out in 1975 after his sophomore year to found Microsoft.
BOOKS & RESOURCES
The Road Ahead (his own book)
Business at the Speed of Thought (his own book)
As an Amazon Associate, Netfigo earns from qualifying purchases. Book links above may be affiliate links.
QUOTES (6)
Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they cannot lose.
It is fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.
I choose a lazy person to do a hard job because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.
We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten.
Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.
NETFIGO SCORE
Proprietary 5-dimension investor rating
Risk Appetite
Contrarian Index
Track Record
Accessibility
Time Horizon
Related Profiles
Investors
Elon Musk
Gates and Musk have a long-running public tension — Gates shorted Tesla, Musk found out and went public about it. Their disagreements on climate solutions and AI safety are also well-documented.
Jeff Bezos
Both Gates and Bezos represent the first generation of tech billionaires who pivoted from company-building to mega-philanthropy and long-term capital allocation — two different models of what post-CEO billionaire life looks like.
Warren Buffett
Gates and Buffett are close friends — they met in 1991 and Gates credits Buffett with shaping his thinking on long-term investing and philanthropy. Their Giving Pledge was launched together.
Companies