Phoebe Gates, the 22-year-old daughter of Bill Gates, recently confirmed that her dad, the Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist, is afflicted with Asperger's syndrome.
Phoebe provided some hilarious tips on what it is like to introduce men to her dad on Alex Cooper's "Call Her Daddy" podcast. She stated it was "terrifying" for the guys but laughed, confirming her dad is "pretty socially awkward." She also added Bill Gates has actually come out and stated openly that he has Asperger's.
Although Bill Gates never openly admitted having Asperger's, he has in the past stated that he probably has autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In his 2025 memoir, "Source Code," Gates looked back on his childhood, acknowledging that he most likely would have been diagnosed with ASD if he had been raised during a time when the diagnosis was more prevalent. He explained how, when he was growing up, nobody realized other brains processed information in different ways, and his own social struggles, such as failing to notice cues and appearing rude, were blamed on his one-track mind for a single task.
Gates has explained how he understood his brain functioned in a different way all along, although it never made sense to him at the time. He remembers having a sense of his neurodivergence when someone questioned him about whether he was "on the spectrum" some 25 years prior. At first, he was surprised that such a question was being asked, but subsequently he did start to think about it as a possibility, finding it a sense-making idea that his brain functioned differently.
This Phoebe Gates revelation to the world puts before the public the personal life of the world's most influential man, revealing his vulnerability and giving an insight into the tribulations that he endured in nurturing a neurodivergent mind.
Read also| Apple clocks quarterly record in India, new retail stores coming this year, Says Tim Cook
