When we hear the name Bill Gates, we instantly think of one of the richest men in the world, the founder of Microsoft, and the genius who transformed modern technology. But beyond his formal image at conferences and in programming books, there's a funny story from his youth that reveals a cheeky and humorous side of his personality.
In the 1970s, Bill Gates was a student at an elite school in Seattle. At that time, access to computers was rare and limited, but Gates and his classmates managed to gain access to a large computer owned by the school through a special educational program in programming. And that’s where the story begins.
It’s said that Gates, with the curiosity of a young programmer, didn’t just learn how to code — he began analyzing and discovering loopholes in the school’s system used to manage class schedules. According to a humorous tale that later surfaced, Gates exploited these loopholes to modify his class schedule… so that he would be placed in classes where most of the students were girls!
In other words, he used his early programming skills not to “save the world” or “build smart systems,” but simply to spend more time sitting next to girls in class. A clever and funny move, showing that even tech geniuses were once just curious teenagers who loved “playing the system” for very personal reasons!
When Gates was later asked about this story in an interview, he didn’t exactly deny it — instead, he smiled slyly and said:
“Let’s just say I knew how to work the computer.”
Whether the story is 100% accurate or not, it remains symbolic and shows how genius sometimes begins with small, even silly things… like wanting to sit next to a girl you like!
This post has been shared on Reddit by @adam-lucas97 through the HivePosh initiative.