Bill Gates stands as one of the technology giants in history. But what few know is that the founder of Microsoft he was lazy in math when he was young, and school did not motivate him.
The confession was made in the second episode of his podcast, Unconfuse Me, which can be found on Spotify. He spoke on this occasion with Salt Khan, founder of the non-profit online education platform Khan Academy.
“At first, in mathematics, I was a bit lazy”, recounted Bill Gates, quoted by Business Insider. “And an eighth grade teacher said, you know, ‘How come you’re so lazy? You could be very good at this.’ He said, ‘But we’re not doing anything interesting.’
“It made a big difference that he thought he was wasting his time,” added the billionaire and philanthropist. “It completely changed my vision of education. I had this idea that the less effort you put in, the cooler you are.”
In fact, Bill Gates didn’t even finish college, dropping out his law studies at Harvard in the second year.
He did it with a purpose: to found Microsoft together with his friend and partner Paul Allen. As Business Insider reports, Gates earlier said that he dropped out of college because “He was worried that he would miss out on being a part of the computer revolution.”
Today, Bill Gates encourages young people to stay in their studies, and makes various contributions to education in the world.
Bill Gates was able to make a professional career in mathematics
The most ironic thing about it is that, growing up, Bill Gates loved math. He even thought about being a professional on the subject.
Marcos Merino, from Genbeta, cites two books: In the Company of Giants: Candid Conversations & the Visionaries of the Digital World, and Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire.
“I almost decided dedicate myself to mathematics “, cBill Gates said, remembering when he had not yet started college and was an amateur programmer. “But I realized that it was not a field with a lot of virgin territory, (didn’t bring) great psychic rewards for the progress you make.”
According to Merino, Gates came to study a class that covered four years of math content in just two semesters, before dropping out of Harvard.
Then he would choose to leave his studies and create Microsoft. But that is another story.