Bill Gates to ‘Reflect on the Luck I Had’ in Debut Memoir — See the Cover!

Bill Gates has announced the forthcoming publication of a new book.

The Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist, 68, has shared exclusively with PEOPLE that his debut memoir, Source Code, will be published next year from Penguin, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

“I've been in the public eye since my early twenties, but much of my life before then isn't well known,” Gates wrote of the memoir in a June 4 post on his blog GatesNotes. “Over the years, I've often been asked about my upbringing, my time at Harvard and co-founding the company [Microsoft] with Paul Allen. Those questions made me realize that people might be interested in my journey and the factors that influenced it.”

Source Code will serve as an intimate portrait of Gates’ life, including his childhood in Seattle and the stories of his grandmother and parents. In the book, the philanthropist will also touch upon the harder aspects of his life, such as his struggles to fit in as a kid and the death of his best friend.

Gates will also write of his ventures into technology as a teenager, and how he developed an interest in the field while at Harvard University. This all led up to when Gates co-founded Microsoft with Paul Allen in 1975.

“In the book, I share some of the tougher parts of my early life, including feeling like a misfit as a kid, butting heads with my parents as a rebellious teen, grappling with the sudden loss of someone close to me and nearly getting kicked out of college,” Gates wrote. “And I cover the challenges of dropping out of school to make a bet on an industry that didn’t really exist yet.”

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“But throughout it, you'll also find the stories of the many people who believed in me, pushed me to grow and helped me turn my quirks into strengths,” the co-founder and philanthropist continued. “And I reflect on the luck I had to be born to a great family in a time of historic technological change and optimism, and to come of age just as the personal computer revolution was taking off.”

“Source Code is my origin story, and I’m looking forward to sharing it,” Gates concluded.

The author's proceeds will be donated to United Way Worldwide, a nonprofit organization which holds a meaningful connection for Gates. His mother, Mary Gates, was a volunteer with United Way for more than a decade and served as a board member of United Way of King County in Seattle, as well as United Way International.

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Source Code will be published on Feb. 4, 2025 and is now available for preorder, wherever books are sold.