Bill Gates' daughter revealed that her father has an autism spectrum disorder
Kyiv • UNN
Phoebe Gates stated that her father has Asperger's syndrome. Bill Gates also said in his 2025 memoirs that he would likely be diagnosed with ASD.
Bill Gates' daughter, Phoebe Gates, admitted in a weekly podcast that her father has "Asperger's Syndrome," which is characterized by serious difficulties in social interaction and repetitive behavior.
This is reported by UNN with reference to The Independent.
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This week, during the podcast "Call Her Daddy," host Alex Cooper asked the billionaire's 22-year-old daughter what her experience was like introducing her boyfriend to her father.
It's terrible for the guy. It's funny for me because my dad is quite socially awkward. As he already said, he has Asperger's syndrome. So, for me, it's so funny
The 69-year-old software engineer has never publicly stated that he has Asperger's syndrome. This diagnosis was previously given to some people with autism. Since then, the term has been combined with other conditions into autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
People with ASD may have difficulties in social and communicative interaction, obsessive interests, and repetitive behavior.
In his 2025 memoir, "Source Code," Gates said that he believes he would have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) if he were a child being raised today.
If I were growing up today, I would probably be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. In my childhood, the fact that some people's brains process information differently than others' brains was not widely recognized
My parents didn't have any pointers or manuals to help them understand why their son became so obsessed with certain projects, ignored social cues, and could be rude and inappropriate without noticing how he was affecting others
Bill also noted that the term "neurodivergent," which is used to describe people whose brains are formed or function differently, was only introduced in the 1990s.
The publication notes that formal testing for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was not introduced until the 1980s, and by that time Bill was already around 30 years old.
In a February interview with Axios magazine, Bill also talked about how he realized that he was different from his peers in childhood, the publication says.
I always knew that I was different from others, and it confused people about my level of energy and intensity, as well as the fact that I was just learning something. And it's a little embarrassing when you're a child that you're different, or people react to you in some way, or your social skills – you're wrong about different things
Bill also mentioned the first time someone suggested that he had autism spectrum disorder was when he was about 25 years old.
What the hell? What the hell? I run a company, damn it. And then I realized that it was probably true. I mean, this thing with the spectrum is something incomprehensible
The Independent has contacted Bill's representatives for comment.
