Things You Probably Didnt Know Abouy GATES

. He collects Porsches

via blog.hemmings.com

Gates has been spotted driving a 2008 Ford Focus, but only on his time off from his Porsche 911 Carrera, Porsche 930 and Porsche 959 Coupe. Funny story; the 959 used to be banned in the US for its unknown crash safety, and Gates’ model sat for a decade at the Port of Seattle once he had it shipped to the US. He didn’t get to drive it until 1999 when President Bill Clinton passed a law exempting certain collectible cars from safety regulations. Knowing Gates, he probably waited a decade, just for appearances, and then made some calls…

14. He makes a lot of wrong predictions

via thehindu.com

He might be a smarty pants by most standards, but Gates has a history of bold predictions that fall flat on their face. He gets harangued for once claiming that PC users would never need more than 640 kb of memory — he denies ever having said that, now, of course. In 1989 though, even Forbes got him on record that Microsoft will never make a 32-bit operating system – four years before Microsoft put out 32-bit Windows. And then in 2004, Gates assured the world all email would be spam-free by 2006. Thanks for building us up Bill. Let’s just hope your “no poor countries left in 2035” prediction earlier this year goes a little differently.

13. He lives in a theme park

via priceypads.com

Gates’ mansion, Xanadu 2.0, took seven years and $63 million to build. Its 60-foot swimming pool features an underwater music system and a locker room with four showers and two bathtubs. Somewhere in the stronghold also lies a 2,500 square-foot gym, 1,000 square-foot dining room, twenty-four bathrooms and 23-car garage. Our guess is it tends to operate at around .004% capacity.

12. It’s from the future

via takeonproperty.com

When guests walk into Xanadu 2.0, they’re given (probably via robot servant) a pin that activates sensors in every room adjusting temperature, music and lighting depending on preferences. Does Gates have his own sensor implanted in his brain, and does it override all the others? You can also view a favourite painting or photograph in an instant via voice request, thanks to an $80,000 network of screens run by $150,000 worth of computer storage devices.

11. He pays $1 million in property taxes a year

10. He’s been arrested… three times

via afr.com8

Bill apparently used to get a little too fast and furious in the late 70s with his Porsche out in the desert. Apart from racking up speeding tickets, he first got picked up in 1975 by Albuquerque police for speeding and driving without a license, and then two years later for running a stop sign without a license. Since slowing down, Gates reportedly got arrested again in 1989 in California on suspicion of drunk driving. The charge was later reduced (he has a lot of money).

9. He killed the SAT

from Lakeside School in 1973 with a near-perfect score of 1590 out of 1600 on the SAT. That fall he enrolled in Harvard College and dropped out the next year, proving once again the old adage “school is for fools”.

8. He paid $30 million for a Leonardo da Vinci manuscript 

via thoughtfulwomen.org

Leonardo da Vinci’s 500 year-old Codex Leicester, which illustrates some of his scientific observations, lies entombed in Xanadu 2.0’s book repository. Gates paid $30.8 million for the manuscript in 1994, citing da Vinci as a major inspiration. Because, art.