Bill Gates Talks Dropping Out Of College And Reveals His Biggest Extravagance | This Morning

You, I mean, you were always a computer wiz at school and you seem to, you were quite clever at sort of manipulating the scheduling software to your own advantage, weren't you? Yeah, computers came along when I was 13 and they kind of intimidated the teachers, so I and a few others were viewed as the computer experts and they were nice enough to let us do the scheduling of the different classes so I could decide, you know, which girls were in my class. So I had lots of great girls in my class. I didn't talk to them much but they were there. But I mean, you've started a high point there, from then on Bill, it's all downhill because if you're 13 years old and you're manipulating the girls in your class, that's like a dream. No, it was very, it's a great privilege. Hey, learning science, you'll be amazed at the opportunities that are on your way. Now we know in hindsight, because you dropped out of Harvard and in hindsight it was to obviously start Microsoft, but at the time, for your parents, they wouldn't have known the success that that was going to go on to become. How did they feel about their son doing that? Well, they were very generous. They, you know, paid for my tuition. At the time, officially I went on leave and so, you know, if the company hadn't gone well, Harvard's very generous about letting people come back. So it really wasn't kind of a permanent thing. So you never expect, so you were thinking at some point, I'll end up going back and finishing. I wasn't, but if I'd been unrealistic and the business hadn't worked out, I could have. And I love school. I mean, I loved it when I was there and even now I read more textbooks. And so it's kind of ironic that I'm a dropout because I read more. I like to learn as much as anyone I know. Yeah. Your early days, you described yourself as a nightmare boss. Those are your words, not mine. Was your work ethic just very different to everybody else's? I was fanatical in my twenties. Helping Microsoft lead the way in software was the only thing that I really focused on. So, you know, I worked weekends, I didn't believe in vacation. And so I really pushed people to work hard. And I was still learning how to manage people, particularly the different skill sets, the sales people, the accounting people. And so, you know, I fortunately, I think I'm a little bit better now. Your wife was there. She worked for you. Eventually, that's right. She came after about 10 years. That wasn't a system that you manipulated to make her come into the company. That happened organically. She was just there. At the point where you met and you suddenly sort of took a shine, and clearly that was an attraction. Had you managed to get on top of your being a sort of a nightmare boss? Were you sort of in control? Because essentially you were still the boss. You were her boss. Well, not directly. The company was big enough that there were a few people in between myself and her. And, you know, we started off pretty casually, but, you know, then kind of surprised each other by falling in love. And after we got married, she retired from Microsoft. But she always understood what we were doing. She had a great career. Gino, when you were coming in today, we put it out there and asked people what would they like to ask you. And the same questions kept coming up time and time again. And if it's all right, I'm going to put a few of those to you now. The first question was, what's the most extravagant thing you've ever bought? Well, certainly the greatest extravagance is that when I travel, I often go buy, use a private plane. And that is very extravagant. But you didn't start doing that because up until I waited, I always thought that was kind of a decadent thing. But then when I started traveling to Africa and Asia a lot, I gave in on that. Do you enjoy it? Do you enjoy that now? Yes. You enjoy that? No, it's a luxury. It's my one true extravagance. Okay, next one. How much money do you have in your wallet, Bill? I don't carry a wallet around a lot. You're a bit like the Queen. The Queen doesn't carry money. No, what's in that purse? No money, no money. Goodness, I wonder. So you have people with you that have to take care of that sort of thing now? Well, when I'm going out, when I'm not doing a business trip, then I'll carry a wallet around that'll have a few hundred dollars and some credit cards in it. Pretty normal. Okay, next question. Do you ever wear the same thing twice? Not without it getting washed, no. That's what we did for again, Bill. I recycle everything all the time. Here's one. Now, this was a very popular question. Everybody was like, how many bathrooms do you have in your house, Bill? Too many. Too many, yeah. And finally, what do you want your family to buy you for Christmas? Well, usually they'll pick books or movies that they've seen and like, or they'll offer to do some sort of a trip together. People are pretty creative. I like puzzles, so they'll often get those. So you don't think you're that difficult to buy for? Oh, yes. No, I think I am. Because I have so many, you know, the things I want, but there's always new books, movies, puzzles, something that's a little personal. This isn't a book, a movie, or a puzzle, but we think it's a gift that money can't buy, and that's our little present for you. What is it? Can I open it? Yeah. I haven't tried to buy this. Money can't buy this. I'm slightly worried what you've done there, Holly. Oh, no, this is just, you're going to treasure this forever, I tell you, if you can get into it. Look at that. All right. Many want that. It is a This Morning mug. You can take that and enjoy that. It's a gift. Money cannot buy that. I'm not sure anyone would want to, but thank you so much for coming in. Yes. It's been a treat to meet you. For more of the same, just click here. And you've never had an Instagram account before or anything like that? No, I had never had an Instagram account. But you learned very quickly. I had to learn everything because, you know, it was completely new to me. So I learned something new every day.