Not just books but entire bookshelves have been devoted to the life and career of Bill Gates at this point, but the 68-year-old Microsoft co-founder has yet to tell the story of his life in book form — until now.
Gates this morning announced a memoir, “Source Code,” due out next year.
But we’ll have to wait for that tell-all about Microsoft or the Gates Foundation, or the inside stories of the well-publicized ups and downs and controversies of the mogul’s adult life. Instead, the book focuses on his childhood, through his decision to drop out of Harvard and start Microsoft with his boyhood friend, the late Paul Allen, in 1975.
The timing is notable: January 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the Popular Electronics magazine that featured the early Altair 8800 personal computer, which inspired Gates and Allen to start the company.
Here’s how Gates describes the book in a post on his blog, The Gates Notes.
In the book, I share some of the tougher parts of my early life, including feeling like a misfit as a kid, butting heads with my parents as a rebellious teen, grappling with the sudden loss of someone close to me, and nearly getting kicked out of college. And I cover the challenges of dropping out of school to make a bet on an industry that didn’t really exist yet. But throughout it, you’ll also find the stories of the many people who believed in me, pushed me to grow, and helped me turn my quirks into strengths. And I reflect on the luck I had to be born to a great family in a time of historic technological change and optimism, and to come of age just as the personal computer revolution was taking off.
The book is scheduled for release Feb. 4, 2025, published by Knopf.
A representative of Gates’ firm, Gates Ventures, says Gates’ proceeds from book sales will be donated to the nonprofit United Way Worldwide, in recognition of his late mother Mary Gates’ longtime role as a United Way volunteer and board member of United Way of King County and United Way International.
