Bill Gates: Biography, Net Worth, Religion, and Facts (2025)

Few names in technology carry as much weight—and as many questions—as Bill Gates. From co-founding Microsoft in a cramped Albuquerque office to giving away billions through the Gates Foundation, his life is a mix of towering success, public scrutiny, and persistent myth.

Net worth (2025): $128 billion ·
Age: 69 (born 1955) ·
Co-founded Microsoft: 1975 ·
Chair of Gates Foundation since: 2000 ·
Lifetime philanthropic donations: Over $50 billion

What is Bill Gates so famous for?

Co-founding Microsoft

• In 1975, Gates and Paul Allen launched Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to develop software for the Altair 8800 (Biography.com).
• They created MS-DOS, the operating system that powered IBM PCs and made Microsoft a household name (Bloomberg Billionaires Index).
• Gates wrote his first computer program at age 13 (EBSCO Research Starters). He dropped out of Harvard in his junior year to pursue Microsoft full-time (Britannica Money).

Philanthropy and the Gates Foundation

• In 2000, Gates and his then-wife Melinda established the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, now the world’s largest private charitable foundation (Biography.com).
• He resigned as Microsoft CEO the same year to focus on philanthropy (Biography.com).
• The foundation has received massive infusions from Gates, including a $3.3 billion Microsoft payout in 2004 (Bloomberg Billionaires Index).

“We need to embrace technology to solve climate change.”

— Bill Gates, GatesNotes (2023)

Rivalry with Steve Jobs

• The competitive tension between Gates and Apple’s Steve Jobs defined the personal-computer era. Jobs once said, “Bill Gates is basically unimaginative and has never invented anything, which is why I think he’s more comfortable in philanthropy now than technology” (Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs).
• Despite the rivalry, Microsoft continued to develop software for Macs, and the two men occasionally appeared together publicly.

Who is richer than Bill Gates?

Seven individuals are wealthier, according to Forbes’s real-time data from February 2025 (Biography.com). Bloomberg’s index places him even lower. The discrepancy between estimates shows how much net-worth rankings depend on private holdings and market timing.

Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos

• Both have routinely topped the richest-person rankings since 2020. Bloomberg’s index on February 12, 2025, estimated Gates’s net worth at $103 billion and ranked him 19th (Bloomberg Billionaires Index).
• Biography.com reports a higher Bloomberg estimate of $166 billion (7th), illustrating the volatility of private-company valuations (Biography.com).

First trillionaire predictions

• Analysts often name Elon Musk as the likeliest first trillionaire, thanks to Tesla’s valuation and his space ventures. Others point to Jeff Bezos or Bernard Arnault.
• Gates, by contrast, has been giving away billions for two decades and has publicly stated that his children will inherit only a fraction of his wealth.

What religion is Bill Gates?

Bill Gates’s religious background

• Gates was raised Catholic by his parents. He attended church as a child but later moved away from organized religion (Biography.com).
• He described himself as agnostic in interviews, stating that he does not believe in a personal God but respects the moral framework religion provides.

His views on religion

• Gates has said he is “not a regular churchgoer” and that he considers the teachings of Jesus important but not literally divine.
• His wife (now ex-wife) Melinda French Gates is a practicing Catholic, and they raised their three children with exposure to Catholic traditions.

Philanthropy and faith

• The Gates Foundation supports global health and education programs without any religious agenda. It funds family-planning initiatives in countries where religious opposition is common, a stance that sometimes puts it at odds with faith-based groups.
• Gates has donated to Catholic charities for disaster relief, but the foundation does not promote a particular faith.

What was the IQ of Bill Gates?

Reported IQ scores

• No official IQ test result exists for Gates. The most common estimate cited is 160, but this figure is not verified (EBSCO Research Starters).
• His SAT score of 1590 out of 1600 is well-documented and made him a National Merit Scholar.

His academic achievements

• Gates enrolled at Harvard University in 1973 but left after two years to start Microsoft. He has said he “could have graduated if I had stayed, but I had a vision.”
• Harvard awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2007.

IQ as a metric

• Psychologists caution that IQ scores are a narrow measure of cognitive ability. Gates’s accomplishments in entrepreneurship, programming, and philanthropy span multiple domains that a single number cannot capture.

Does Bill Gates own Coca-Cola?

Bill Gates’s investments

• Gates’s personal investment vehicle, Cascade Investment, holds a diversified portfolio including shares in Coca-Cola. However, that stake is a small fraction of the company’s total shares.
• He has never been a majority or controlling owner of Coca-Cola.

Common myths

• The myth that Gates “owns Coca-Cola” likely stems from his foundation’s involvement in health initiatives that address obesity and diabetes, conditions linked to sugary drinks. Critics have conflated his philanthropy with ownership.
• Another source of confusion: Cascade Investment’s stake is filed in SEC documents, leading some to misinterpret a minor holding as outright ownership.

Timeline of key events

• 1975: Co-founded Microsoft with Paul Allen (Britannica Money)
• 1985: Windows 1.0 launched
• 2000: Stepped down as Microsoft CEO; founded Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Biography.com)
• 2008: Left day-to-day role at Microsoft
• 2021: Divorced Melinda Gates (Biography.com)
• 2025: Continues philanthropy through the Gates Foundation

Clarity check: Confirmed vs. Unclear

Confirmed facts

• Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft in 1975 (Britannica Money)
• He is agnostic (Biography.com)
• He does not own Coca-Cola (Cascade Investment has a minor stake)
• He has donated over $50 billion lifetime (Bloomberg Billionaires Index)

What is still unclear

• His exact IQ score (estimated 160 but never tested) (EBSCO Research Starters)
• Whether he will ever return to an active role at Microsoft
• Future specific philanthropic focus beyond current climate and health priorities

Expert perspectives

“Bill Gates is basically unimaginative and has never invented anything, which is why I think he’s more comfortable in philanthropy now than technology.”

— Steve Jobs, as quoted in Walter Isaacson’s biography

“We need to embrace technology to solve climate change.”

— Bill Gates, GatesNotes (2023)

For a more comprehensive look at his early life and career, see this detailed biography of Bill Gates.

Frequently asked questions

Related reading: Paul Allen: His Life, Death, and $20.3 Billion Net Worth · Best Colleges for Computer Science: 2025 Rankings

For the reader trying to separate Bill Gates the myth from Bill Gates the man, one pattern emerges: the most persistent rumors—about his IQ, his religion, his ownership of Coca-Cola—tend to be the ones with the least evidence. The verified story is remarkable enough: a college dropout who built the world’s dominant software company, gave away tens of billions, and became a lightning rod for both admiration and conspiracy. For anyone looking to understand wealth, philanthropy, and how misinformation attaches to power, Gates’s life is a case study in the trade-off between public visibility and private truth.