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Technology

Explore what shaped Bill Gates in part one of his autobiography

A driven teenager up nights working on computer schemes. Could this be Bill Gates? Chris Stokel-Walker reads the much anticipated story of the billionaires's early years, as told by the man himself

By Chris Stokel-Walker

5 February 2025

Bill & Paul Allen at teletype machine, Lakeside yearbook photo (1969-1970)

Bill Gates (right) and Paul Allen, his childhood friend and Microsoft co-founder in the late 1960s

Lakeside School


Bill Gates (Allen Lane)

There are few people in the world of technology with more interesting stories to tell than Bill Gates. The entrepreneur and co-founder of Microsoft has seen computers morph from hulking machines that fill entire rooms – and cost thousands of dollars a day to use – to tiny, handheld devices that can be picked up for comparative pennies. He has seen, and changed his mind on the importance of, the rise of the internet and…

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