--- description: Bill Gates might be a great innovator, but when it comes to guessing the costs for a normal person's grocery shopping, he came up short. title: Bill Gates Fails at Guessing What Normal People Pay for Stuff image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb327cb3a9a41badd/6989287886f68e88f06e8601/bill-gates-grocery-shopping.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Bill Gates Fails Miserably at Guessing What an Average Person's Groceries Cost  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 21, 2018 9:36 PM CUT  NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 13: Bill Gates speaks during the Lin-Manuel Miranda In conversation with Bill & Melinda Gates panel at Hunter College on February 13, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images) NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 13: Bill Gates speaks during the Lin-Manuel Miranda In conversation with Bill & Melinda Gates panel at Hunter College on February 13, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)John Lamparski—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 21, 2018 9:36 PM CUT When it comes to software or entrepreneurship, [Bill Gates](http://time.com/5086870/bill-gates-guest-editor-time/ "undefined") is a force to be reckoned with. But if you’re looking for a pal to help you out on [_The Price Is Right_](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/12/12/bob-barker-does-something-new-for-his-return-to-the-price-is-right/ "undefined") or to help you keep costs down on a trip to the grocery trip, Gates is not your guy. The Microsoft mogul appeared on _The Ellen DeGeneres Show_ on Wednesday, where he discussed how he became a billionaire before obliging Ellen by playing game where he guessed the cost of common grocery store staples, like Rice-a-Roni, Tide Pods, floss, and Totino’s Pizza Rolls. And while Gates definitely has the capacity for developing software, when it came to guesstimating how much the average person forks over for snacks and household goods, he was seriously challenged, going so far as to initially postulate that a box of pizza rolls would set you back a whopping $22 (spoiler alert: they’re only $8.98, according to DeGeneres). That being said, Gates is using his considerable wealth to help others; he and wife Melinda [pledged to give away $41.3 billion](http://people.com/human-interest/bill-melinda-gates-why-giving-billions-away/ "undefined") to help others through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, focusing on global health, education, and ending poverty. Watch the full clip below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5169246/bill-gates-grocery-shopping/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5169246/bill-gates-grocery-shopping/"},"headline":"Bill Gates Fails Miserably at Guessing What an Average Person's Groceries Cost","datePublished":"2018-02-21T21:36:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:50:49.484Z","description":"Not Bill's finest moment","url":"https://time.com/5169246/bill-gates-grocery-shopping/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb327cb3a9a41badd/6989287886f68e88f06e8601/bill-gates-grocery-shopping.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb327cb3a9a41badd/6989287886f68e88f06e8601/bill-gates-grocery-shopping.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Lin-Manuel Miranda In Conversation With Bill & Melinda Gates","caption":"Lin-Manuel Miranda In Conversation With Bill & Melinda Gates","creditText":"John Lamparski—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":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5169246/bill-gates-grocery-shopping/","name":"Bill Gates Fails Miserably at Guessing What an Average Person's Groceries Cost"}}]}] ```