Bill Gates: My Divorce Is 'Mistake I Regret the Most'

He also thinks he would be placed on the autism spectrum if he were a student today
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 27, 2025 8:33 AM CST
Bill Gates: If I Were a Kid Today, I'd Be on the Spectrum
Bill Gates leaves after the state funeral of former President Jimmy Carter at Washington National Cathedral, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025.   (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Bill Gates is making the rounds plugging his upcoming autobiography, Source Code My Beginnings, and he tells the Wall Street Journal that he is sure he would be placed on the autism spectrum were he a child in school today. "There's a bit of a pattern match there," he says, referring to his childhood years. "I didn't behave in a standard way." He talks about being slow to socialize, for example, and his tendency to rock back and forth. On the flip side, he had a "deep concentration" that allowed him to excel in math and science, and, of course, the burgeoning world of computers. Other nuggets:

  • In an interview with the London Times, Gates calls his divorce from Melinda French Gates the "mistake I regret the most."
  • The former Microsoft chief calls the time he spent with Jeffrey Epstein "foolish." (His ties with Epstein appeared to have factored into the aforementioned divorce.)
  • He also says it is "really insane that (Elon Musk) can destabilize the political situations in countries." (Germany is an example.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X