Bill Gates Reveals Steve Jobs Once Suggested He Take LSD To Improve Microsoft

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates recently shared an unusual anecdote about Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in an interview with The Independent. According to Gates, Jobs once suggested that he should have experimented with LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) to enhance his creativity and design better products. Notably, Jobs, known for his unorthodox approach to leadership and product development, had openly credited his own LSD experiences with shaping his vision for Apple's groundbreaking products.  

"Steve Jobs once said that he wished I'd take acid because then maybe I would have had more taste in the design of my products," Bill Gates said.

Responding to Jobs' comment, he jokingly said, "Look, I got the wrong batch. I got the coding batch, and this guy got the marketing-design batch, so good for him! Because his talents and mine, other than being kind of an energetic leader, and pushing the limits, they didn't overlap much. He wouldn't know what a line of code meant, and his ability to think about design and marketing and things like that... I envy those skills. I'm not in his league."

Gates, on the other hand, admitted to dabbling in recreational drug use in his youth but noted that he stopped once he began focusing on building Microsoft alongside co-founder Paul Allen. Now one of the world's wealthiest individuals, with a net worth of $164 billion, Gates has often described himself as a pragmatic thinker, relying more on structured problem-solving than mind-altering substances to fuel his innovations.

"Because my personality is kind of optimistic, and I'm willing to take risks, I tried a lot of things. But another thing about my personality is that I like my mind to work and be very logical. So I stopped doing even marijuana early in my 20s just because it made my mind sloppy, either during or the day afterwards," he said.

The billionaire recently wrote about his experiences with LSD in a new memoir, 'Source Code'. In the book, Gates recounts two instances of using acid, providing a personal and introspective look at his past. In the first anecdote, he described a visit to the dentist while still under the influence of LSD.

"Part of the trip was exhilarating, but I took the drug not realizing that I'd still be feeling its effects the next morning as I arrived at the orthodontist's office for some long-scheduled dental surgery," wrote Gates.

In another passage from the memoir, he shared a vivid account of a second LSD experience, this time with his future Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and some friends. Gates recounts how they all took LSD while watching an episode of the popular TV series 'Kung Fu.' 

The experience had a lasting impact on Bill Gates, leading him to reevaluate his use of LSD. As he reveals in the memoir, it was the concern about potential long-term damage to his memory that ultimately led him to quit using the drug altogether.