In this episode, we profile the complex life of William Henry Gates III, a man whose career has spanned from the dawn of the microcomputer revolution to the center of global climate debates. We trace his journey from a Harvard dropout who co-founded Microsoft with childhood friend Paul Allen to becoming the world’s youngest billionaire at age 31. Listeners will learn how a pivotal deal with IBM and a ruthless management style established Microsoft’s dominance, leading to a high-stakes antitrust battle with the U.S. government in the late 1990s.

We also explore Gates’s massive pivot to philanthropy, detailing how he has donated over $60 billion through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fight diseases like polio and malaria. We examine his modern investments in green energy, including his nuclear venture TerraPower and his push for t ...