Bill Gates is opening up about his childhood and adolescence in his upcoming memoir, Source Code, which will be the first in a series of autobiographical books from the Microsoft billionaire. In an exclusive interview with People magazine ahead of the memoir’s release, Gates gave a glimpse into the heretofore unknown parts of his life that the book will shed some light on.
Among other things, the 69-year-old opened up about experimenting with alcohol and drugs as a teenager. Most of his stories involved his childhood friend Paul Allen, with whom he founded Microsoft in 1975.
Bill Gates on trying LSD
In Source Code, Bill Gates speaks about trying LSD during senior skip day, a tradition in American high schools where the senior class bunks school on a particular, pre-determined date. Gates could still feel the after-effects of the drug the next day when he had to undergo a dental procedure.
“It’s all Paul’s fault,” Gates told People in jest. “Everything I did, I’m blaming it on him and Jimi Hendrix.”
LSD or lysergic acid diethylamide is a powerful psychedelic drug that is banned in most countries. Gates tried the drug a total of four or five times. But he does not recommend it.
“”So I gave it up after, I think we did [LSD] four or five times in total. I think the last time was when I was like 21. And I’m definitely not recommending that because even though you think some of your thoughts are profound, in retrospect, they’re not,” he said.
On marijuana and alcohol
LSD was not the only drug he experimented with, though it was the only hard drug he took as a teenager. He also admitted to smoking pot “to try to look cool,” while hoping that “maybe some girls would be impressed.”
“It didn’t work out,” he said. “But I tried.”
In his book, the billionaire also recalled the first time he got drunk – “I threw up and passed out that night in the Lakeside teachers’ lounge.”
His memories of childhood often involved his close friend Paul Allen. “Paul always got a kick out of challenging the things like [not] drinking. And he gave me a bunch of whiskey, which I still don’t like the taste of, because that first night I drank too much,” Gates said. “I’m a huge risk-taker willing to try new things, but I also like my mind working well. And so both during those trips and even after, you wonder, ‘Hey, did I scramble up my mind?’ “
