Bill Gates Was Introduced To LSD By This Person At Microsoft — It Is None Other Than The Guy Who Also Got Him Drunk And Gave Him Pot
Bill Gates once revealed that the same person who challenged his intellect as a teenager also pushed him into experimenting with LSD, marijuana and alcohol.
This Person's Outsized Influence On Bill Gates' Early Life
In "Source Code: My Beginnings," officially released Feb. 4, 2025, Gates looks back on his formative years with unusual candor, crediting late Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) co-founder Paul Allen as both a catalyst and a provocateur.
Allen, Gates says, wasn't just instrumental in steering him toward computers — he also encouraged boundary-pushing behavior typical of rebellious teens.
Speaking with GeekWire in February 2025, Gates recalled that Allen introduced him to LSD and other substances, joking that his friend was "a problem" who also got him drunk, gave him marijuana and exposed him to Jimi Hendrix's music.
"He got me drunk, he gave me pot. This guy was a problem, Jimi Hendrix, I mean, he made me listen to that music," Gates said, referring to Allen.
While Gates' parents provided structure and discipline, Allen embodied a different influence — constantly daring him to try new things.
Experimentation, Risk And Regret
In Source Code, Gates writes that he tried LSD four or five times in total, beginning in his teens and stopping in his early 20s.
In an interview with PEOPLE published in January 2025, Gates said those experiences were driven by curiosity and risk-taking — traits that later defined his business career — but also by youthful insecurity.
He described getting drunk for the first time and passing out, and experimenting with marijuana partly in hopes of impressing girls. "It didn't work out," Gates admitted, adding that the attempts to seem cool fell flat.
While some moments seemed profound at the time, Gates now views them with skepticism. He said he eventually gave up drugs because he valued mental clarity and worried about long-term effects on his mind.
Previously, Gates also said that the late Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) co-founder Steve Jobs once told him he should have tried hallucinogenic drugs to make Microsoft products more appealing.
Looking back, Gates cautioned against romanticizing those experiences, noting that what felt insightful then rarely was.
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From Microsoft IPO To Bill Gates' Billionaire Status
Gates currently has a net worth of $118 billion, ranking him 18th on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. He stepped down as Microsoft CEO in 2000. In the same year, he established Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Steve Ballmer, then Microsoft's president, was named to succeed Gates as CEO. Ballmer joined Microsoft in 1980 after being recruited by Gates and was elevated to president in 1998.
Gates launched his first company at age 15 with friend Paul Allen, who later went on to co-found Microsoft alongside him.
During Gates' tenure as CEO, Microsoft experienced years of strong growth, delivering substantial returns to investors and helping propel Gates to the position of the world's richest person from 1993 to 2007.
Microsoft went public in 1986 at $21 per share and Gates became a millionaire after retaining a 45% stake in the company.
Currently, Microsoft has a market capitalization of $3.60 trillion.
Benzinga Edge Rankings rank Microsoft in the 98th percentile for growth, with additional metrics available comparing it with peers such as Apple and Meta.
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Photo Courtesy: Alexandros Michailidis on Shutterstock
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.