--- description: Bill Gates told Maria Shriver that his father, Bill Gates Sr., suffers from Alzheimer's disease. title: Bill Gates Reveals His Father Suffers From Alzheimer's Disease image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2794c4510667d012/6988f9f297cdff63206b41c7/bill-gates.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Bill Gates](/tag/bill-gates/) ## Bill Gates Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Bill Gates Reveals His Father Suffers From Alzheimer's Disease – and He's Committing $100 Million to Stopping It by [Flora Carr](/author/flora-carr/) ## Flora Carr Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 30, 2018 1:23 PM CUT  Bill Gates arrives for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron as he receives the One Planet Summit's international leaders at Elysee Palace on December 12, 2017 in Paris, France. Macron is hosting the One climate summit, which gathers world leaders, philantropists and other committed private individuals to discuss climate change. Bill Gates arrives for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron as he receives the One Planet Summit's international leaders at Elysee Palace on December 12, 2017 in Paris, France. Macron is hosting the One climate summit, which gathers world leaders, philantropists and other committed private individuals to discuss climate change.Aurelien Meunier—Getty Images by [Flora Carr](/author/flora-carr/) ## Flora Carr Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 30, 2018 1:23 PM CUT [Bill Gates](http://time.com/money/5098598/bill-gates-net-worth/ "undefined") has revealed for the first time that his father suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. Gates discussed his personal reasons for investing in the search for new treatments, revealing on a segment of the [_Today_ show](https://www.today.com/health/bill-gates-reveals-personal-reason-he-s-helping-fight-alzheimer-t121865 "undefined") that his 92-year-old father, Bill Gates Sr., suffers from the heartbreaking disorder that causes dementia. “I have a father who’s affected deeply by it. Only by solving problems like this can we take these medical costs and the human tragedy and really get those under control,” he told NBC’s Maria Shriver – whose father, the late Kennedy adviser and diplomat Sargent Shriver, also suffered from the disease. The Microsoft founder, who [recently invested $100 million](http://time.com/5021339/bill-gates-alzheimers-research-dementia/ "undefined") of his [$94 billion fortune](http://time.com/money/5098598/bill-gates-net-worth/ "undefined") into Alzheimer’s research, added: “More and more people are getting Alzheimer’s, and it’s a tragic disease.” Gates said $50 million of his donation is going to Dementia Discovery Fund, which looks for new cures and treatments. “One of the things we’re trying to figure out is, when does the Alzheimer’s really get started?” he said. “When would you need to treat somebody to completely avoid them getting Alzheimer’s?” > [](https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/958320814880972800) Gates, 62, discussed his own fears about developing Alzheimer’s like his father. However, he also expressed optimism regarding the fight against Alzheimer’s. “I’m an optimist. Bringing in new ideas, that’s what we’re going to have to do, to have great drugs for this in the next 10 to 15 years,” Gates said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5124575/bill-gates-father-alzheimers-disease/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5124575/bill-gates-father-alzheimers-disease/"},"headline":"Bill Gates Reveals His Father Suffers From Alzheimer's Disease – and He's Committing $100 Million to Stopping It","datePublished":"2018-01-30T13:23:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:04:09.533Z","description":"Bill Gates Sr. is 92","url":"https://time.com/5124575/bill-gates-father-alzheimers-disease/","keywords":["Bill Gates","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2794c4510667d012/6988f9f297cdff63206b41c7/bill-gates.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Flora Carr","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/flora-carr/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2794c4510667d012/6988f9f297cdff63206b41c7/bill-gates.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"French President Emmanuel Macron Receives One Planet Summit's International Leaders At Elysee Palace In Paris","caption":"French President Emmanuel Macron Receives One Planet Summit's International Leaders At Elysee Palace In Paris","creditText":"Aurelien Meunier—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/bill-gates/","name":"Bill Gates"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5124575/bill-gates-father-alzheimers-disease/","name":"Bill Gates Reveals His Father Suffers From Alzheimer's Disease – and He's Committing $100 Million to Stopping It"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Alzheimer's Researcher Rudolph Tanzi on Why he's Optimistic","description":"Tanzi is a pioneer in the field of Alzheimer's research, and has spent most of his career studying a disease that plagues 5.3 million Americans every year.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Ebl6dMCj/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-08-26T15:39:24.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Ebl6dMCj.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5124575/bill-gates-father-alzheimers-disease/","duration":"PT3M53S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5124575/bill-gates-father-alzheimers-disease/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```