Bill Gates’ 22-year-old daughter, Phoebe Gates, confirmed that her billionaire father has Asperger’s syndrome.
Phoebe revealed the Microsoft co-founder’s developmental disorder while discussing what it’s like to bring men home to her father on Wednesday’s episode of Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast.
“For the guy, terrifying. For me, it’s hilarious because my dad’s pretty socially awkward. Like he’s said before, he has Asperger’s. So, like to me, it’s so funny,” she explained.
The computer programming expert, 69, has never publicly stated that he has Asperger’s syndrome, though he did reveal that he most likely had autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
“If I were growing up today, I probably would be diagnosed on the autism spectrum,” Bill wrote in his 2025 memoir, “Source Code.”
“During my childhood, the fact that some people’s brains process information differently from others wasn’t widely understood.”
He continued, “My parents had no guideposts or textbooks to help them grasp why their son became so obsessed with certain projects, missed social cues, and could be rude and inappropriate without seeming to notice his effect on others.”
The coding wiz explained that the term “neurodivergent” wouldn’t be coined until the 1990s. Meanwhile, formal testing for autistic spectrum disorders was not introduced until the 1980s when Bill was already an adult.
Despite Bill never having been formerly diagnosed as a child, he knew from a young age that his mind worked differently from that of his peers.
“I always knew I was different in ways that confused people in terms of my energy level and intensity, and going off and just studying things,” he told Axios in February.
“And it’s a little confusing when you’re a kid, that you’re different, or people react to you in some ways, or your social skills — you’re miscuing on various things.”
Bill also recalled the first time that someone suggested to him that he could have ASD.
“Somebody said to me, ‘Are you on the spectrum?’ It was like 25 years ago,” Bill said. “I remember thinking, ‘What the hell? What the hell? I run a goddamn company.’ And then I realized, well, actually, it’s probably true. I mean, the spectrum thing is confusing.”
Bill shares Phoebe with his ex-wife, Melinda, whom he was married to from 1994 to 2021. They also share daughter Jennifer, 29, and son Rory, 25.
The philanthropist is currently dating Paula Hurd, the widow of Oracle CEO Mark Hurd.
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