Bill Gates, who spends most of his time with his work within the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is the 5th richest person in the world. So how does Bill Gates spend a day? What does he do from waking up in the morning to going to bed at night? How is the working order? How does he relax after work?
Bill Gates, the founder of the US technology giant Microsoft, was the richest person in the world for many years. Although he has lost this title to names such as Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Bernard Arnault in recent years, he is the 5th wealthiest person in the world with a fortune of 133 billion dollars according to the Bloomberg billionaires index. Gates, who made his fortune mostly with Microsoft, which he founded in 1975, left his duties at this company in 2006. Leaving his seat on Microsoft’s board of directors in 2019, Gates continues to work in the fields of education, health and climate change under the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which he founded in 2000, since then. So, how does Gates, one of the richest people in the world, spend a day?
If Gates is not on a business trip, he starts the day at his home in Washington, USA. The famous businessman has occasionally announced that he prefers cereal for breakfast, while his ex-wife Melinda Gates said in an interview that Bill Gates often skips breakfast. Bill Gates announced that he preferred a cheeseburger for lunch.
Bill Gates’ home in Washington state, USA. Source: Wikipedia
The billionaire, who is known to love sports, devotes an hour to sports in the morning. Gates, who usually spends this hour on the treadmill, also plays tennis from time to time. After exercising, he always looks at newspaper headlines. Among the newspapers and magazines he reads are The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Economist. He always writes the headlines of the day and comments on the agenda on his personal blog and social media accounts.
DIVIDES YOUR DAY IN 5 MINUTE SLICES
Gates, who said in an interview that he has a fortune that can buy almost anything he wants, but knows that he can never buy time, is known for planning his time meticulously. The US billionaire plans a working day by dividing it into 5-minute segments. All business meetings, meetings and activities that Gates will do are all reserved for certain time periods. Breaking up your work routine into specific times (for example, taking 10 minutes to read 3 emails) increases productivity while avoiding distractions and wasting too much time on any task. It is known that SpaceX and Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, also plans his time in 5-minute slices.
One of Gates’ favorite activities is reading. Gates, who spends an hour a day reading, says he finishes one book a week. Gates reads an average of 50 books a year. Gates listed “Upheaval”, “Nine Pints” and “How to Lie with Statistic” among his recommendations in 2015. There are also very rare books among the collection of the former CEO of Microsoft, which also has a large library. One of these books is the famous artist and scientist Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Codex Leicester” book…
Bill Gates left his duties at Microsoft in 2006. Photo: Wikipedia
If Gates is not working or studying during the day, he spends time with his three children. He especially enjoys visiting unusual places such as power plants and missile silos with his son, Rory John Gates. In one of his interviews, he said that his son likes to learn with him.
RELAXING ACTIVITY: WASHING DISHES
In the evenings, Bill Gates usually spends time meeting with business partners or watching movies. However, there is another activity Gates does to relax: washing the dishes… In a statement on a social media platform in 2014, he stated that he washes the dishes even though he has many employees. Studies show that performing daily tasks relaxes people and increases their awareness. Jeff Bezos, the founder of e-Commerce giant Amazon, is also known to routinely do housework.
While some billionaires are famous for sleeping less and working hard, Bill Gates attaches great importance to sleep. Gates, who goes to bed on time, pays attention to at least 7 hours of sleep. Many experts emphasize that adults need to sleep for at least 7 hours in order for the body and brain to rest for a sufficient period of time. Gates also explained that if he does not sleep for at least 7 hours, this creates a distraction and adversely affects his health.
Sources: Business Insider, The House of Routine, Finty