5 Interesting Facts about Bill Gates

It’s widely known that not only is Bill Gates the celebrated Microsoft creator and billionaire entrepreneur, but a staunch supporter of charitable giving; donating around $30billion of his own fortune to date. Back in 1994, Gates and his wife created their own charitable foundation, the Bill & Melinda Foundation, with the businessman himself only able to award it with his full attention after his resignation as Chief Software Architect for Microsoft in 2008.

It’s interesting to note then that Gates could have easily secured the number 1 ranking of richest man had it not been for his own philanthropic ways. By 2011 Gates had donated $28billion to his self-created charity, the Bill and Melinda Foundation, providing financial aid to both the American public education system and in increasing opportunities for those in developing countries. In 2012 his foundation promised a further $750million of its funds to fighting AIDS.

In a seldom secured interview, Gates admitted that his children, aged fifteen, twelve and nine at the time coerced him into widening his song lists to include the likes of eccentric singer, Lady Gaga. They have also been known to playfully address him with the song ‘Billionaire’ by Bruno Mars and Travie McCoy.

The Microsoft tycoon has expressed his interest both in financial and in verbal support for a variety of causes, from the Earth Institute led by Gates’ personal acquaintance, Professor Jeffrey Sachs, to the MassiveGood, a charity to increase both awareness and funds for global issues. MassiveGood had originally set out to provide drugs to aid similar causes as The Global Fund, but was discontinued in late 2011.

Gates took a dislike to Facebook due to his being too popular. He claimed that the over-abundance of friend requests to plough through was just too overwhelming. It must have come as an eye-opener then when he visited people in a 3rd world country. Gates spoke candidly of one such time, accompanying a chief minister on a visit to a local town. When a resident asked who he was, the chief minister simply replied, “This is a white-skinned guy I brought with me.”

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