This is not the first year that a photograph of a teenager has been circulating on the Internet, in which many Internet users recognize the future co-founder of Microsoft. We checked to see if the photo actually shows Bill Gates as a child.
The photograph, sold in color and black and white, shows a blond teenager wearing glasses riding a bicycle down the street. Claimed to be future entrepreneur and philanthropist Bill Gates in the 1970s.
The image was most widely spread on the RuNet in Telegram, where it was published in different years by the channels “Che, history"(107,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Camera" (88,000 And 71,000), "Lev Shlosberg"(62,000) and RU_lio (58,000).
“Verified” did not find any authoritative sources in which the photograph was published as a portrait of Bill Gates. She appears on the Internet exclusively on entertainment sites, forums and social networks.
It is indeed possible to talk about some similarities between a teenager on a bicycle and Bill Gates. Known photo 22-year-old Gates, taken in 1977 at the police station (then the future entrepreneur was detained for ignoring a Stop sign and driving without a license).
At the same time, there are also minor differences - for example, a different shape of the chin and the absence of folds around the mouth - which cast doubt that this is the same person (especially in the absence of a full-face photograph of the young man).
The dating of the photograph, which is cited in popular sources, raises separate questions. In the 1970s, Bill Gates was between 15 and 25 years old, and the boy in the photo looks younger than that range, even if one makes allowance for the precocious youthful appearance of Gates in reliably known portraits of him from that time. In addition, judging by these portraits, Gates did not yet wear glasses as a teenager.
“Verified” examined six reputable biographical publications about Bill Gates, including the entrepreneur’s recently published autobiography, “Source Code.” Only in the latest, very detailed book is the bicycle mentioned once - Gates recalls briefly delivering free newspapers in the mid-1960s. From this we can conclude that the two-wheeled friend did not play a significant role in the life of the future billionaire, who in 1968 first became closely acquainted with computers and for decades did not think about anything else. At the same time, the viral photograph shows a so-called chopper - a bicycle with a long fork replaced, stylized as a motorcycle. Creating such a modification required extraordinary work with an ordinary bicycle, which speaks of its owner’s passion for his vehicle.
Judging by the photo, this is a chopper based on the model Schwinn Pea Picker or similar from the same line. Such bicycles of the appropriate shade have been produced since the late 1960s, after Gates became interested in computer science.
The earliest post containing the viral post found "Verified" was dated June 30, 2015. Then she was placed in two communities on Reddit with the same caption: “A boy and his bike. 1970s." That is, it was not initially stated that Gates was depicted in the photograph, although some users in the comments made such an assumption. This is what apparently led to the photo subsequently being circulated with a misleading caption.
A month and a half later, a user with the nickname 70chop appeared under both publications. With the words “the Internet is small,” the man said that he was the one depicted in the photograph taken by his brother in the mid-1970s. 70chop noted that the bicycle depicted in the photo was assembled by him from parts found in a landfill.
However, this user did not leave any other comments on Reddit before or after. The only user with this nickname found “Verified” on other resources is a resident of the Californian city of Huntington Beach, who in 2005 told about his passion for motorcycles. Apparently, this is the same person who carried his love for two-wheeled vehicles throughout his entire life.
"Verified" contacted Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation asking to comment on the photo. “We cannot confirm that the person in the picture is Bill Gates,” the organization responded.
Thus, based on the totality of the arguments, it can be argued that the cyclist in the viral photo is not the future co-founder of Microsoft. Apparently, it was an unknown American boy who later recognized himself in a photo published on the Internet.
Cover photo: social networks
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