Teen Beat

Claim: Photographs show Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates posing for ‘Teen Beat’ magazine.

Status: Real photos; inaccurate description.

Example: [blog.monkeymethods.org, 2005]

Bill Gates Strikes a Pose for Teen Beat Photospread, 1983

Origins: Many readers have asked us about these pictures of Microsoft co-founder and Chairman Bill Gates since they were posted on a blog with a caption identifying them as photos taken for a ‘Teen Beat Photospread’ (i.e., a layout in a magazine featuring stories and pictures of ‘teen idol’-type celebrities, marketed primarily to prepubescent girls).

These images are actually publicity photos taken of the then 30-year-old Bill Gates coincident with the initial release of Microsoft Windows in 1985. The Corbis photo archive identifies their depiction thusly: “Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft, reclines on his desk in his office soon after the release of Windows 1.0. 1985 Bellevue, Washington, USA.”

Last updated: 19 January 2005

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