Bill Gates, co-founder and former CEO of software giant Microsoft, has long influenced a number of people, tech enthusiasts and investors, who look to the billionaire for advice on how he began and ran his company.
Building the software company during the early days of the world wide web and digitalisation, the technocrat is credited with helping usher in huge changes in personal technology. Meta chief AI officer Alexandr Wang has also suggested that 13-year-olds should follow the example of Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg to learn the new technology and have a “huge advantage” in the future.
Besides his corporate journey, Gates is also known for his active participation in environmental causes and philanthropy.
Quote of the day by Bill Gates
“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”
What does Bill Gates’ quote mean?
This is a quote from the 1999 book titled ‘Business @ the Speed of Thought’, co-authored by Bill Gates and Collins Hemingway, which examines how business and tech are integrated.
The book looks at how adoption of digital infrastructures and information networks can help a business gain advantage over rivals in the field.
Overarchingly, the above quote stresses the importance of listening to your customers — especially when they have bad things to say. Gates’ quote acknowledges that dislike for your product may give one the answers about what has to be improved.
For businesses that are serving a market or requirement, constant updates and fine-tuning in order to meet customer needs is important and Gates’ advice points to an important aspect that one may want to ignore but must not.
Further, actively listening to customer feedback (even the negative ones) and checking for viable solutions to be implemented will also demonstrate to customers that you care and help you build a stronger loyalty base.
Bill Gates net worth: Microsoft, Gates Foundation
A computer enthusiast, Gates dropped out of Harvard to cofound Microsoft in 1975 with Paul Allen (who passed away in 2018) amid a rush for the development of personal computers (PC). He stepped down as CEO of Microsoft in 2000 and is now Chairman of The Gates Foundation.
According to the Forbes ‘Real Time Net Worth’ data, he is worth around $107.7 billion on 22 February, and 18th richest person in the world. Further, the Bloomberg Billionaire Index places him at 17th position, with estimated net worth of $107 billion.
Gates’ fortune is managed through closely held Cascade Investment, which has stakes in dozens of publicly traded companies, including Canadian National Railway, Deere and Ecolab, according to Bloomberg. It noted that the Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft recorded revenue of $245 billion in 2024.
In recent years, Gates has been focused on giving away his massive fortune — in 2022, the Gates Foundation (known as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation till 2021, when the couple divorced) donated Microsoft shares worth billions to his trust, Forbes reported.
In May 2025, he donated $59 billion to the foundation and announced that it will be shut down in 20 years, the report added.
Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates and Warren Buffett together started ‘The Giving Pledge’ — a charitable campaign that encourages the world’s wealthy to contribute a majority (over 50%) of their worth to philanthropic causes. As of October 2025, the pledge has more than 250 signatories from 30 countries, who have pledged a total of $600 billion.
Bill Gates in Epstein files: Latest updates
The latest release of the Epstein files by the DOJ made claims about Gates and his association with the disgraced financier.
In one email dated 18 July 2013, Jeffrey Epstein wrote that he resigned from a role linked to the Gates Foundation and BG3, a think tank founded by Gates, after becoming “caught up in a severe marital dispute between Melinda and Bill.”
According to The New York Post, Epstein was likely making the claims on behalf of Gates’ longtime science advisor, Boris Nikolic, who had quit the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation at the time.
“During the past few weeks, I have been caught up in a severe marital dispute between Melinda and Bill,” Epstein wrote in Nikolic’s voice in the email dated 18 July 2013.
Gates reportedly pulled out of the India AI Impact Summit 2026 last week amid fresh controversy over his association with disgraced financier and convicted child sex offender. The Gates Foundation did not provide any specific reason behind the cancellation of the Gates’ keynote address.
