Bill Gates

Then only when I retired from Microsoft did I get to go back and take a little more time off and see all the other great things going on in the world, including all this health stuff that is the thing I spend the most time on now.

No, I think for Microsoft to be successful, even though we were the first and we had a broader concept of software than the other companies, we needed to be what I would call hardcore. And, you know, in that case, the work is what I want to do. It's not like, oh God, you know, I've got to earn a little bit more money.

No, I think for Microsoft to be successful, even though we were the first and we had a broader concept of software than the other companies, we needed to be what I would call hardcore. And, you know, in that case, the work is what I want to do. It's not like, oh God, you know, I've got to earn a little bit more money.

It's, you know, this is the thing that throughout my childhood, I was so lucky, you know, because of my parents and some early friends, school I went to, I had these exposures to computers that were very rare. And so I had all these thousands of hours of programming experience and great feedback on, okay, how do you do it better from the very best adults? I got to see what was coming.

It's, you know, this is the thing that throughout my childhood, I was so lucky, you know, because of my parents and some early friends, school I went to, I had these exposures to computers that were very rare. And so I had all these thousands of hours of programming experience and great feedback on, okay, how do you do it better from the very best adults? I got to see what was coming.

And the idea of being part of making that real I woke up and said, okay, I'd love to get to work. My younger self could stay in days at a time. I don't do that now. But then it was just in no way a hardship because I felt we were part of something that would be very empowering. And competitively, I wanted us to be the ones to make it happen.

And the idea of being part of making that real I woke up and said, okay, I'd love to get to work. My younger self could stay in days at a time. I don't do that now. But then it was just in no way a hardship because I felt we were part of something that would be very empowering. And competitively, I wanted us to be the ones to make it happen.

Well, people, when they would hear us say a computer on every desk and in every home running Microsoft software, they were like, you kids are really out of it. I mean, every desk, every home, what would people do with these things? But because the chips were improving exponentially, doubling every couple of years, it allowed us to think of the computing part as essentially being free.

Well, people, when they would hear us say a computer on every desk and in every home running Microsoft software, they were like, you kids are really out of it. I mean, every desk, every home, what would people do with these things? But because the chips were improving exponentially, doubling every couple of years, it allowed us to think of the computing part as essentially being free.

And so the only thing that would hold you back is, okay, can you help people with photographs? Can you help them with documents? Can you help them stay in touch with people far away or find information? And we knew over time that as these things got better, it would be part of the mainstream. And so as people sort of came around to that, they were like, wow, whether it's at work or at home,

And so the only thing that would hold you back is, okay, can you help people with photographs? Can you help them with documents? Can you help them stay in touch with people far away or find information? And we knew over time that as these things got better, it would be part of the mainstream. And so as people sort of came around to that, they were like, wow, whether it's at work or at home,

This is just part of how people do things. And we wanted to get it out to everyone, students everywhere, even in the countries that are low income.

This is just part of how people do things. And we wanted to get it out to everyone, students everywhere, even in the countries that are low income.

Well, it definitely confounded them that sometimes I was pushing back in a pretty tough way, as though we were in some competition. They would hear from teachers, and they were very good about staying in touch with my teachers. Some teachers would say this kid should be skipped ahead one or two grades. Some teachers would say this kid should be held back. So that kind of is, what?

Well, it definitely confounded them that sometimes I was pushing back in a pretty tough way, as though we were in some competition. They would hear from teachers, and they were very good about staying in touch with my teachers. Some teachers would say this kid should be skipped ahead one or two grades. Some teachers would say this kid should be held back. So that kind of is, what?

Make up your mind. I had one experience where I worked on a report about the state of Delaware, and I ended up doing this 200-page report with the Great Wood Cover while the other kids turned in five or 10-page reports. And it was very embarrassing that I thought, wow, did I kind of overdo this thing? And yet

Make up your mind. I had one experience where I worked on a report about the state of Delaware, and I ended up doing this 200-page report with the Great Wood Cover while the other kids turned in five or 10-page reports. And it was very embarrassing that I thought, wow, did I kind of overdo this thing? And yet

that ability to concentrate would hold me in good stead in terms of reading long books and applying that concentration and curiosity first to cards, then to math, and then finally to software and how would software change the world. But, you know, they never were quite sure what to do.

that ability to concentrate would hold me in good stead in terms of reading long books and applying that concentration and curiosity first to cards, then to math, and then finally to software and how would software change the world. But, you know, they never were quite sure what to do.

And, you know, sending me to a therapist actually ended up being brilliant and sending me to a very nice private school where the classes were a bit smaller and, you know, I could get, I always got an unfair, you