Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates will turn 65 on October 28th. It has not been easy for him in the last few months.
Bill Gates was born in Seattle in 1955 and is an exceptional figure. The entrepreneur and programmer celebrates his 65th birthday on October 28th. But he looks back on difficult months, even as one of the richest people in the world.
His children get almost nothing
Together with Paul Allen (1953-2018), Bill Gates founded Microsoft in April 1975. This should not only change their lives, but also the world. Windows and Office have become an integral part of the office life of countless people. And what would video game fans do without their PC or Xbox?
Microsoft's triumphant advance made Gates a billionaire. In May, the business magazine "Forbes" ranked him second behind Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (56) in its ranking of the richest people on the planet. Gates' fortune was estimated at the equivalent of almost 90 billion euros at the time.
His three children Phoebe (18), Rory (21) and Jennifer (24) should get almost none of the money. Many years ago it became known that he and his wife Melinda (56), with whom he has been married since 1994, only wanted to leave their children the equivalent of around 8.5 million euros each – a fraction of his fortune. In 2013 the entrepreneur explained this decision in an interview with "Bild am Sonntag". "My wife and I believe that if you shower your kids with money they don't deserve, you're doing your kids a disservice," said Gates.
Where does all the money go?
In 2008, Gates left Microsoft's operations to others. Since then he has mainly been active as a philanthropist, taking care of the well-being of other people. Together with the US investor Warren Buffett (90), who according to "Forbes" should have an estimated fortune of around 59 million euros in May and was ranked fifth on the list, Gates started "The Giving Pledge" in 2010 ". The campaign aims to encourage wealthy people to use a large part of their wealth for philanthropic purposes.
Many people seem to forget this when they talk about gates these days. Especially in connection with the corona pandemic, his name has been mentioned frequently in recent months – but rarely benevolently. Corona deniers, mask opponents and conspiracy theorists have made Gates the declared target for their sometimes confused claims.
For example, there are theories that Gates allegedly uses the virus as a pretext to have people implant microchips with which he can then control them. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a charitable foundation, is said to have funded the development of the coronavirus in order to later turn the pandemic into a business. He also wants to limit the growth of the world's population. And on top of all that, the philanthropist is also a secret opponent of vaccinations. At least he didn't have his children vaccinated.
Gates and his wife donated a lot for the fight against Corona and Covid-19 alone. By May 2020, more than 300 million US dollars, the equivalent of almost 255 million euros, had been distributed for this purpose through her foundation. The Gates opponents are apparently of little interest – or they put alleged secret motives together.
Gates just lost his father
All of this surprises the entrepreneur and philanthropist. "I do not plant microchips in anyone. I did not create the corona virus. Our foundation wants to save lives," Gates said last in an interview with "Spiegel". That conspiracy theories were instead at the center "surprises me completely. I wish I knew how best to present the facts."
In addition, Gates lost his father in the past few weeks. On September 15, he stated on his official blog that William Henry Gates II had died at the age of 94. "We've all had a lot of time to think about how lucky we are to have this amazing man in our lives for so many years," said Gates. Without this, the foundation of him and his wife Melinda would not have become "what it is today".