Bill Gates Net Worth (Updated 2024)

What is Bill Gates’ Net Worth?

Bill Gates is one of the wealthiest individuals in the world, with a net worth estimated at $123.1 billion. He amassed his fortune primarily through his ownership stake in Microsoft Corporation, the software company he co-founded with Paul Allen in 1975.

Gates held various leadership positions at Microsoft over the years, including chairman, CEO, president, and chief software architect. At the peak of his career at Microsoft, Gates owned 49% of the company’s shares, making him one of the largest individual shareholders. Even after stepping down from his full-time role at Microsoft in 2008, Gates continued to own a significant portion of the company’s shares.

As of 2024, Gates owns around 103 million shares of Microsoft, equivalent to approximately 1.3% of the total shares outstanding. With Microsoft’s share price hovering around $330, Gates’s Microsoft holdings alone are valued at over $34 billion. However, his net worth extends far beyond his Microsoft stake.

Through his investment vehicle, Cascade Investment LLC, Gates has a highly diversified portfolio spanning various sectors, including real estate, energy, hospitality, and technology startups. Some of his notable investments include a stake in the Four Seasons hotel chain, ownership of substantial farmland across multiple states, and investments in companies like Canadian National Railway, Deere & Co., and Ecolab.

Despite his immense wealth, Gates has pledged to give away a significant portion of his fortune to charitable causes through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which he co-founded with his ex-wife Melinda French Gates. The foundation has an endowment of over $49 billion and has distributed more than $60 billion in grants since its inception, focusing on global health, education, and poverty alleviation initiatives.

Here’s the breakdown of Bill Gates’ net worth:

If you’re curious about how we estimate a celebrity’s net worth, you can check out our methodology here.

Early Life

Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955 in Seattle, Washington to William H. Gates Sr. and Mary Maxwell Gates. His family was quite wealthy and influential – his father was a prominent lawyer, and his mother served on the board of directors for First Interstate BancSystem and the United Way.

Gates attended the exclusive preparatory Lakeside School, where he was first introduced to computers and began programming at age 13. His early proficiency in computer programming laid the foundations for his future success with Microsoft.

Despite being born into an affluent family, Gates showed an entrepreneurial spirit from a young age. At Lakeside, he developed a payroll program for the school’s computer company and earned money by finding bugs in the software of Computer Center Corporation for $0.10 each.

His upper-class upbringing and access to an elite education provided Gates with opportunities that gave him a head start over his future competitors in the technology industry. However, his passion for computers and coding were the driving forces behind his eventual rise to become one of the richest people in the world.

Microsoft

Despite stepping down from his full-time role at Microsoft in 2008, Bill Gates continues to hold a significant stake in the company he co-founded. As of 2024, Gates owns around 39.2 million shares of Microsoft, equivalent to approximately 0.53% of the total shares outstanding. With Microsoft’s share price hovering around $347.70, Gates’s Microsoft holdings alone are valued at over $13.7 billion.

Gates’s massive wealth from Microsoft can be traced back to the company’s initial public offering (IPO) in 1986. At the time of the IPO, Gates owned 49% of Microsoft’s shares, making him an instant multi-millionaire. As Microsoft grew into a tech giant, Gates’s net worth skyrocketed, and he became the world’s richest person by 1995 with a net worth of $12.9 billion.

While Gates has diversified his investments over the years, his Microsoft stake remains a significant contributor to his overall net worth. The success of Microsoft under the leadership of CEO Satya Nadella, particularly in areas like cloud computing and artificial intelligence, has further bolstered the value of Gates’s holdings.

Cascade Investments

In 1995, Gates founded Cascade Investment, LLC, a private investment firm based in Kirkland, Washington, to manage his personal wealth and investments outside of Microsoft. Cascade Investment is led by Michael Larson, who has overseen the firm since its inception and played a crucial role in growing Gates’s fortune.

Through Cascade Investment, Gates has built a highly diversified portfolio spanning various sectors, including real estate, energy, hospitality, and technology startups. Some of his notable investments include:

• A 71.25% stake in Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
• A 25% stake in Ecolab, a water treatment and energy services company
• A 14.2% stake in Canadian National Railway
• Investments in companies like Deere & Company, Republic Services, and AutoNation

While Cascade Investment is a private company and does not disclose its exact holdings or financial performance, reports suggest that it manages over $40 billion worth of assets, including more than half of Gates’s fortune outside of his Microsoft shares and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust Endowment.

Cascade Investment’s investment strategy is focused on long-term value creation, with a fundamental, research-driven approach to identifying opportunities across various asset classes and geographies. The firm has also been at the forefront of promoting sustainability, employee safety, and diversity, equity, and inclusion in its portfolio companies.

Through Cascade Investment, Gates has not only diversified his wealth but also maintained a hands-on approach to managing his investments, ensuring that his fortune continues to grow and contribute to his philanthropic efforts through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Personal Life

Despite his immense wealth and success in the technology industry, Bill Gates has maintained a relatively private personal life, especially in his later years. However, some key aspects of his personal life are:

Marriage and Family

In 1994, Gates married Melinda French, who was working at Microsoft at the time. Together they have three children – Jennifer (born 1996), Rory (born 1999), and Phoebe (born 2002). The family resided in an earth-sheltered mansion overlooking Lake Washington in Medina, Washington, valued at over $125 million.

After 27 years of marriage, Bill and Melinda announced their decision to end their marriage in May 2021. The divorce was finalized in August 2021, with Melinda receiving a reported $3 billion in the settlement.

Hobbies and Interests

Gates is an avid reader and has cited The Great Gatsby as one of his favorite books. The ceiling of his personal library is engraved with a quote from the novel. He also enjoys playing bridge, tennis, and golf in his free time.

Despite his wealth, Gates was known to fly coach until 1997 when he purchased his first private jet. He has a keen interest in puzzles and has even co-authored a book on the subject called “The Road Ahead.”

Philanthropy

One of the defining aspects of Gates’ personal life is his philanthropic work through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Established in 2000, the foundation has an endowment of over $50 billion and focuses on global health, development, education, and other humanitarian initiatives.

Gates and his ex-wife Melinda have pledged to give away the majority of their wealth through the foundation. As of 2023, they had donated over $60 billion to the foundation’s various causes.

In addition to the foundation’s work, Gates has also been a signatory of The Giving Pledge, a campaign encouraging the world’s wealthiest individuals to donate a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes.

So while Gates has achieved unprecedented financial success, his personal life has been defined by his commitment to his family, varied interests, and a dedication to using his wealth to create a positive impact on global issues through philanthropy.

Bill Gates’ Incredible Seattle Mansion

Bill Gates’s primary residence, known as Xanadu 2.0, is located in Medina, Washington, a wealthy suburb of Seattle. This sprawling estate, named after the fictional mansion in the movie “Citizen Kane,” is a testament to Gates’s immense wealth and innovative spirit. The mansion spans over 66,000 square feet and took seven years and $63 million to build, with construction starting in 1988 and completing in 1995.

Xanadu 2.0 is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and luxurious amenities. Some of its notable features include:

• A 2,100-square-foot library: This library houses one of Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks, which Gates purchased for $30.8 million.
• A 60-foot swimming pool: The pool has an underwater music system and a glass wall that allows swimmers to reach the terrace outside.
• A 2,500-square-foot gym: The gym is part of a fitness facility that includes a trampoline room with a 20-foot ceiling.
• A 1,000-square-foot dining room: This room can accommodate large gatherings and is part of a 2,300-square-foot reception hall that can seat 150 people.
• High-tech sensor systems: These systems allow guests to customize their experience throughout the house, adjusting temperature, lighting, music, and even artwork using wearable pins.
• Extensive art collection: The mansion features rare manuscripts and artworks by renowned artists such as Winslow Homer and Andrew Wyeth.

The property also includes a private lakefront beach with sand imported from the Caribbean, a salmon and trout-stocked stream, and multiple garages that can house up to 23 cars.

More Bill Gates Real Estate

Beyond his primary residence, Bill Gates has amassed an impressive real estate portfolio that spans across the United States. Some of his notable properties include:

• Del Mar Beach House, San Diego: Purchased for $43 million in 2020, this 5,800-square-foot beach house features six bedrooms, two guesthouses, a 10-person jacuzzi, and 120 feet of Pacific coastline.
• Yellowstone Club Lodge, Montana: This 6,993-square-foot lodge is located in the exclusive Yellowstone Club, a ski and golf club in Big Sky, Montana. The property includes eight bedrooms, eight full baths, a sauna, and a home theater.
• Rancho Santa Fe, California: Gates owns multiple properties in Rancho Santa Fe, including a 228-acre horse farm known as Evergate Stables, which he purchased for $23 million in 2014.
• Wellington, Florida: Gates has a 30-acre estate in Wellington, Florida, which includes a four-bedroom mansion and a horse ranch, purchased to support his daughter Jennifer’s competitive show jumping.
• Private Island in Belize: Gates owns a 314-acre private island off the coast of Belize, known as Grand Bogue Caye, valued at approximately $25 million.

Gates’s real estate holdings also include significant farmland across the United States, making him one of the largest private farmland owners in the country. His farmland investments are managed through Cascade Investment LLC and span approximately 242,000 acres in states like Louisiana, Arkansas, and Arizona.

Bill Gates Net Worth Over Time

Bill Gates’s net worth has seen significant growth and fluctuations over the years, driven by the success of Microsoft and his diversified investment portfolio. Key milestones in his net worth include:

• 1986: Microsoft goes public, and Gates’s net worth reaches $350 million.
• 1987: Gates becomes the world’s youngest self-made billionaire with a net worth of $1.25 billion.
• 1990: Gates’s net worth grows to $2.5 billion as Microsoft releases Windows 3.0.
• 1995: Gates becomes the richest person in the world with a net worth of $12.9 billion.
• 1999: Gates’s net worth briefly surpasses $100 billion during the tech stock frenzy, making him the first centibillionaire.
• 2000: The tech bubble burst and antitrust trials against Microsoft cause Gates’s net worth to decline to $63 billion.
• 2008: Gates steps down from his full-time role at Microsoft, and his net worth is $58 billion.
• 2014: Gates’s net worth reaches $76 billion, and he regains the title of the richest person in the world.
• 2020: Gates’s net worth grows to $110 billion, driven by the success of his investments and Microsoft’s performance.
• 2023: Gates’s net worth is estimated at $138 billion, making him one of the richest people in the world.
• 2024: Gates’s net worth is estimated at $154 billion, making him the sixth-richest person in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Ashley Roberts

Ashley Roberts is the founder of Real-Time Billionaires List. She founded this platform because she likes to know how much celebrities are actually making. She is always curious why these people can make much more money than the ordinary person.

With a Bachelor’s degree in finance, she is skilled at financial analysis and understands numbers related to wealth. Most of the articles on this site are edited by herself before publishing.