Bill Gates daughter Phoebe Gates reveals he has Asperger syndrome

Herald Sun02-05-2025

Bill Gates' daughter has revealed that the Microsoft billionaire has Asperger syndrome in a podcast appearance.
Phoebe Gates, 22, also spoke about how 'terrifying' it was for her boyfriends to meet her dad when she brought them home, as she appeared on this week's episode of the 'Call Her Daddy' podcast, The Post reported.
'For the guy, terrifying. For me, it's hilarious because my dad's pretty socially awkward,' she told host Alex Cooper. 'Like he's said before, he has Asperger's. So like to me, it's so funny.'
Gates, 69, has never spoken publicly about having Asperger syndrome, a term previously applied to many autistic people.
It has now been merged with other conditions and redefined as autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
People with ASD can often experience difficulties with communication and social situations, as well as exhibit repetitive behaviours and obsessive interests.
Gates said that if he was being raised today, he would probably be diagnosed with autism in his new book 'Source Code,' published in February.
'If I were growing up today, I probably would be diagnosed on the autism spectrum,' he wrote. 'During my childhood, the fact that some people's brains process information differently from others wasn't widely understood.
'My parents had no guideposts or textbooks to help them grasp why their son became so obsessed with certain projects, missed social cues, and could be rude and inappropriate without seeming to notice his effect on others,' he went on.
Formal ASD testing wasn't introduced until the 1980s, while Bill also recalled how the term 'neurodivergent' — referring to those whose brains work differently from others — didn't appear until the 1990s.
Gates, who has a net worth of over $107 billion according to Forbes, said it wasn't until he was in his 40s that someone first suggested to him he might have ASD.
'I remember the first time somebody said to me, 'Are you on the spectrum?' It was like 25 years ago, I remember thinking, 'What the hell? What the hell? I run a goddamn company,'' he told Axios in an interview in February.
'And then I realised, well, actually, it's probably true. I mean, the spectrum thing is confusing.'
During her 'Call Her Daddy' appearance, Phoebe also spoke about her boyfriend, Arthur Donald, 26, the grandson of ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney.
'Oh man, it's so bad. Like, I'm so bad at music. I mean, my family like, we're so nerdy, so I knew nothing about music. I knew about tech stuff growing up, not music stuff,' she said.
She recalled a time Donald tried to 'rizz' her by taking her to an Elton John concert.
'And Elton John comes out in like a bedazzled tracksuit. I'm like, 'Is Elton John gay?' His entire family starts dying laughing,' she went on.
Phoebe added that even now, after dating Donald for 'almost two years,' his family still joke about the incident.
This story was originally published in The New York Post

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Diddy accuser told him 'you always push me to do more'

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a day ago

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Diddy accuser told him 'you always push me to do more'

One of Sean "Diddy" Combs' former girlfriends has testified in the hip-hop mogul's sex trafficking trial that she told him in text messages that she felt mistreated in their relationship and asked to stop taking part in sexual performances with other men. "I'm not a porn star. I'm not an animal," the woman, testifying under the pseudonym Jane to protect her privacy, wrote Combs on October 16, 2023, according to a text message she read aloud in court. "It's loveless for me and nothing satisfies you and you always push me to do more and more." The messages could bolster prosecutors' contention that Combs, 55, for two decades coerced women to take part in the sexual performances, sometimes known as "Freak Offs," against their will. Combs is charged with using physical force and threatening to cut off financial support to get women to take part in the drug-fuelled, sometimes days-long performances in hotel rooms while he watched. Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. His lawyers have acknowledged that Combs was occasionally abusive in domestic relationships but say the women who took part in Freak Offs did so consensually. Jane, the third alleged sex abuse victim of Combs to testify at his trial in Manhattan federal court, told jurors last week that she was "head over heels" for Combs at the outset of their relationship, which lasted from 2021 through 2024. She testified that most of the time they spent together involved sex performances with male escorts in hotel rooms, even though she wanted to go on dates with just Combs. She said Combs - whose net worth Forbes estimated at above $US1 billion ($A1.5 billion) in 2022 - threatened to stop paying her rent when she said she wanted to stop having sex with other men. Combs' defence lawyers are due to cross-examine Jane later this week. The trial is in its fifth week. Combs could face life in prison if convicted on all counts. Also known throughout his career as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, Combs turned artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Usher into stars, elevating hip-hop in US culture and becoming a billionaire in the process. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028 One of Sean "Diddy" Combs' former girlfriends has testified in the hip-hop mogul's sex trafficking trial that she told him in text messages that she felt mistreated in their relationship and asked to stop taking part in sexual performances with other men. "I'm not a porn star. I'm not an animal," the woman, testifying under the pseudonym Jane to protect her privacy, wrote Combs on October 16, 2023, according to a text message she read aloud in court. "It's loveless for me and nothing satisfies you and you always push me to do more and more." The messages could bolster prosecutors' contention that Combs, 55, for two decades coerced women to take part in the sexual performances, sometimes known as "Freak Offs," against their will. Combs is charged with using physical force and threatening to cut off financial support to get women to take part in the drug-fuelled, sometimes days-long performances in hotel rooms while he watched. Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. His lawyers have acknowledged that Combs was occasionally abusive in domestic relationships but say the women who took part in Freak Offs did so consensually. Jane, the third alleged sex abuse victim of Combs to testify at his trial in Manhattan federal court, told jurors last week that she was "head over heels" for Combs at the outset of their relationship, which lasted from 2021 through 2024. She testified that most of the time they spent together involved sex performances with male escorts in hotel rooms, even though she wanted to go on dates with just Combs. She said Combs - whose net worth Forbes estimated at above $US1 billion ($A1.5 billion) in 2022 - threatened to stop paying her rent when she said she wanted to stop having sex with other men. Combs' defence lawyers are due to cross-examine Jane later this week. The trial is in its fifth week. Combs could face life in prison if convicted on all counts. Also known throughout his career as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, Combs turned artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Usher into stars, elevating hip-hop in US culture and becoming a billionaire in the process. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028 One of Sean "Diddy" Combs' former girlfriends has testified in the hip-hop mogul's sex trafficking trial that she told him in text messages that she felt mistreated in their relationship and asked to stop taking part in sexual performances with other men. "I'm not a porn star. I'm not an animal," the woman, testifying under the pseudonym Jane to protect her privacy, wrote Combs on October 16, 2023, according to a text message she read aloud in court. "It's loveless for me and nothing satisfies you and you always push me to do more and more." The messages could bolster prosecutors' contention that Combs, 55, for two decades coerced women to take part in the sexual performances, sometimes known as "Freak Offs," against their will. Combs is charged with using physical force and threatening to cut off financial support to get women to take part in the drug-fuelled, sometimes days-long performances in hotel rooms while he watched. Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. His lawyers have acknowledged that Combs was occasionally abusive in domestic relationships but say the women who took part in Freak Offs did so consensually. Jane, the third alleged sex abuse victim of Combs to testify at his trial in Manhattan federal court, told jurors last week that she was "head over heels" for Combs at the outset of their relationship, which lasted from 2021 through 2024. She testified that most of the time they spent together involved sex performances with male escorts in hotel rooms, even though she wanted to go on dates with just Combs. She said Combs - whose net worth Forbes estimated at above $US1 billion ($A1.5 billion) in 2022 - threatened to stop paying her rent when she said she wanted to stop having sex with other men. Combs' defence lawyers are due to cross-examine Jane later this week. The trial is in its fifth week. Combs could face life in prison if convicted on all counts. Also known throughout his career as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, Combs turned artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Usher into stars, elevating hip-hop in US culture and becoming a billionaire in the process. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028 One of Sean "Diddy" Combs' former girlfriends has testified in the hip-hop mogul's sex trafficking trial that she told him in text messages that she felt mistreated in their relationship and asked to stop taking part in sexual performances with other men. "I'm not a porn star. I'm not an animal," the woman, testifying under the pseudonym Jane to protect her privacy, wrote Combs on October 16, 2023, according to a text message she read aloud in court. "It's loveless for me and nothing satisfies you and you always push me to do more and more." The messages could bolster prosecutors' contention that Combs, 55, for two decades coerced women to take part in the sexual performances, sometimes known as "Freak Offs," against their will. Combs is charged with using physical force and threatening to cut off financial support to get women to take part in the drug-fuelled, sometimes days-long performances in hotel rooms while he watched. Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. His lawyers have acknowledged that Combs was occasionally abusive in domestic relationships but say the women who took part in Freak Offs did so consensually. Jane, the third alleged sex abuse victim of Combs to testify at his trial in Manhattan federal court, told jurors last week that she was "head over heels" for Combs at the outset of their relationship, which lasted from 2021 through 2024. She testified that most of the time they spent together involved sex performances with male escorts in hotel rooms, even though she wanted to go on dates with just Combs. She said Combs - whose net worth Forbes estimated at above $US1 billion ($A1.5 billion) in 2022 - threatened to stop paying her rent when she said she wanted to stop having sex with other men. Combs' defence lawyers are due to cross-examine Jane later this week. The trial is in its fifth week. Combs could face life in prison if convicted on all counts. Also known throughout his career as Puff Daddy and P Diddy, Combs turned artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Usher into stars, elevating hip-hop in US culture and becoming a billionaire in the process. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028