'Hi, I'm Bill': what is Bill Gates like in person?

A new question on Quora, the information-sharing website, is preoccupying techie fanboys: what is Bill Gates really like in real-life? Asking people who have met Gates in real life, even if it was in passing, the idea behind the question on Quora is to share people’s impressions of Gates. The answers range from what it’s like to pee on Gates’s shoes to performing as a musician at one of his parties. Let’s start with the most memorable one, about peeing on Bill Gates’s shoe. Turns out, the tech billionaire takes it rather well. [caption id=“attachment_1128093” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Bill Gates. AFP image[/caption] Robert J. Holtz writes of his run-in with Gates in a men’s washroom: “Bill is at one of the stalls doing his business in a short break in the conversation…two golfers enter the restroom…(one) stands next to Bill and starts to unzip. As Bill is talking, the golfer cuts him off and says, “Hey you know you look like that guy… whatja call him… yeah… you look like Bill Gates.”  Bill just laughed and then about ten of us in unison said, “He IS Bill Gates.”  The golfer was floored and eagerly shook his hand.  His friend then blurted out, “Yeah and you just pissed on his shoes!” Everyone looked down at Bill’s loafers and sure enough the golfer had marked his territory.  He was still standing there with his pants half undone.  Not to mention, Bill accepted his handshake at a moment few others would.  The whole room was laughing and the golfer was mortified.  He offered to buy Bill a new pair but he just put one hand up and said, “No thank you.  That’s okay. Things happen.” Other reports return uniformly positive reports about Gates’ demeanour. He is friendly, open, down-to-earth, and answers questions with patience and analogies. Elynn Lee, computer science major at UT Austin writes: “He had a quiet demeanor; it’s not to say that he never spoke, but he was definitely a great listener. I’ve met (and heard of) other important figures cutting people off while they were speaking, but Mr. Gates was in no way that type of person. He smiled a lot and his posture was such that I felt comfortable talking to him. For all anyone could have known, it was just me and my friend Bill talking.” Chris Han who was a MSFT Program Manager for four years, said: “In answering questions that were predominately focused on software, (Bill Gates) drew on analogies and references ranging from biology to economics to world history. It left me with the impression that he just loved to learn about anything and everything.” If you still want to know more about the “real” Bill Gates, check out this 1997 profile of him done by Time magazine, which offers an exhaustive and intriguing look into his teen years and beyond. Read the rest of the Quora answers here.