This is a copy of the College Dropout? section that was added to the Bill Gates knol shortly after August 10, 2008. It was radically revised on Aug. 27 after I discovered the Boston Globe article.

College Dropout?

Boston Globe Article

Articles and web sites that are embarrassing to Bill Gates or Microsoft have a strange habit of disappearing. One such article allegedly suggested that Bill Gates was kicked out of Harvard.

Indeed, the article - which appeared in The Boston Globe - appears to be the most convincing piece of evidence supporting the rumor that Gates didn’t just drop out of colege.

The Boston Globe article is discussed on a Purdue University alt.folklore.computers newsgroup discussion on February 21, 1999 under the subject heading “Open Letter to Hobbyists.” One person posted a link to the article, but it’s no longer active.

[Note: Please contact the author of this knol if you can provide him with a copy of the article, either an online or print version.]

Gates never had a definite study plan. He took a leave of absence from Harvard in 1975 and moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where MITS was located.

At least, that’s the account offered by the Microsoft and Wikipedia Bill Gates biographies. But a persistent rumor suggests that one of the world's most famous college dropouts was actually kicked out of Harvard for the same behavior that got him suspended from Seattle's Lakeside School for Boys.

On his Microsoft page, J.D. Paul wrote,

“He was also kicked out of Harvard for stealing computer time (on the DARPA-purchased PDP-10 in Aiken Computation Laboratory), back when that meant something. He used it to write commercial software, i.e. Altair BASIC.

“It is interesting that most hackers hate Bill Gates not so much because he stole computer time, but rather because he wanted to *sell* software. It’s all Bill’s fault.”

Some people have suggested that Harvard never gave Gates an honorary degree out of fear that this embarrassing secret might be revealed. Yet Harvard finally did receive a degree from Harvard in 2007...and rumors that Gates was kicked out of Harvard again surfaced.

In response to the article Bill Gates to finally receive his Harvard degree (Nancy Gohring, NetworkWorld, March 22, 2007), someone anonymously posted the following message on an associated comments page:

“The Boston Globe once reported that Gates was ‘asked’ to leave Harvard for infringing the copyright on BASIC, which was owned by Dartmouth, and for ‘borrowing’ computer time from machines owned by the US Government and located on campus.

“Gates and the University, according to the Globe, reached an agreement that he would not sell BASIC - which he promptly breached when he formed MicroSoft Corp. and began selling it for the MITS Altair. Oh well, we parole people who murder after a while, and I guess giving millions to the University helped to shorten institutional memory a bit.”

The rumor is also discussed in a Purdue University alt.folklore.computers newsgroup discussion on February 21, 1999 under the subject heading “Open Letter to Hobbyists.” One person writes,

“Didn’t he use the time on Harvard's PDP-10 from his student account, which conditions specifically forbid commercial use, and never paid for it? Wasn’t it why he was kicked out of Harvard?”

Another individual replied,

“The following was my introduction to this matter:

“http://www.boston.com/globe/metro/packages/harvard/partone.htm

“Others might find it enlightening as well.”

Yet another...

“This Boston Globe article says Gates HIMSELF put the code he was working on ‘for a New Mexico company’ in the public domain IN ORDER TO AVOID EXPULSION. It appears he was being accused not only of mis-using Harvard equipment, but also Federal funding for it. . . .

“Maybe somebody oughta ring up ol’ Ed Roberts [President of MITS] and see if HE knew Basic had been placed in the public domain..... BY GATES..... to AVOID EXPULSION!!!!!”

Unfortunately, the Boston Globe article is no longer online at the URL listed above. (See the Boston Globe Article sidebar.)