As far as the world of modern computers is concerned, Bill Gates is one of the most important, and well-known names. He founded Microsoft, and worked hard to make it a household necessity. In fact, many would say that he all but dominated the world of the PC in the late 80s and early 90s.

It is also commonly known that he is one of the richest people in world, consistently showing up at number 1 on the Forbes top 100 wealthiest people list. It was only recently that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos began to overshadow him.

But let’s break from the usual information, and look at a few facts you probably didn’t know about Bill Gates, and his life in general.

He First Wrote A Tic-Tac-Toe Game

Bill was fascinated with programming from a very young age. The first fully functioning programme he ever wrote was a tic-tac-toe game, which was created using one of the earliest computers ever made; a Teletype Model 33 ASR. It wasn’t exactly on the same level as modern bingo games for Australians, but still rather remarkable given the limitations of technology at the time.

Since his teachers noticed how dedicated Bill was to programming, they often allowed him to leave class and continue to work on his passion.

He Never Graduated

Although getting an almost perfect score on his SAT, Bill never bothered to finish Harvard. Instead he dedicated most of his time to working on Microsoft, with other studies being largely ignored. He eventually took a leave of absence from Harvard, and never returned.

Though, he did often say that he could always return to college if Microsoft failed. Of course, it didn’t.

He Fears The Future

He was asked if he is concerned about super intelligent AI of the future, during a Reddit Ask Me Anything, and responded that he is. He explained that first computers will do many jobs on behalf of humans, and that the situation will be good. But, he elaborated, that a few decades beyond that time, when the AI systems become super intelligent, that the results could be very concerning.

This is a concern he shares with another influential figure; Elon Musk.

His Property Is 66,000 Square Feet

Bill lives with his wife Melinda on a 66,000 square foot property overlooking Washington Lake. Of course, the entire house is designed with an internal smart server system, meaning that everything is connected, and can be remotely controlled. A 60 foot wide swimming pool has an underwater music system, housed in a 2,600 square foot gym. If you weren’t already impressed, the dining room is 1,000 square feet.

Though, if you really stop to think about it, how inconvenient must a dining room of that size be?

He Founded The Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation

Lastly; he founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is the largest charitable organisation in the world. One of the main objectives of the foundation is to eliminate polio entirely, which is a far bigger, ongoing task than you might think.