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The nerdy obsessive who became the world’s richest man

Seen by fellow pupils as an obnoxious loner, Bill Gates was a rebellious teenager, challenging his teachers and ‘at war’ with his parents

8 February 2025

9:00 AM

8 February 2025

9:00 AM

Source Code: My Beginnings Bill Gates

Allen Lane, pp.320, 25

Shortly before Bill Gates’s seventh birthday in 1962, his parents stuffed their son into a button-down shirt and blazer for a visit to Century 21, a bold showcase of scientific prowess in their home town of Seattle. This futuristic fair was intended as the nation’s rebuff to Soviet Russia following the Sputnik satellite launch, which sparked the space race.

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