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As Bill and Melinda Gates' decision to divorce
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continues to be the talk of Silicon Valley,
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many have wondered how their three children are handling the news.
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Their children, Jennifer, 25, Rory, 21, and Phoebe, 18,
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have not publicly commented on the split.
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Their low-key lifestyles have drummed up a lot of curiosity
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about the Gates kids.
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As the only son of the famous couple,
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Rory finds himself in a unique position.
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At 21-years-old, he's led a quiet and reserved life,
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despite undeniably sharing some of his dad's features.
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Like his famous parents, Rory values his privacy.
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His social media profiles are private,
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allowing him to navigate the world as normally as you can
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when you're the founder of Microsoft's son.
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Mom Melinda French Gates wrote in an Instagram caption
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celebrating Rory's birthday in 2017,
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"When my son Rory was born, I spent a lot of time imagining
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what this little person would be like and who he would be as he grew up.
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Now, as we near his 18th birthday, I have my answer.
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Rory is compassionate and curious."
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Rory John Gates was born on May 23, 1999.
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He grew up at the family's estate in Medina, Washington,
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which Bill Gates refers to as Xanadu 2.0,
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after the fictional mansion of the protagonist in "Citizen Kane".
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All of Bill's kids went to his alma mater, The Lakeside School.
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He wanted to share his educational experience there with his kids.
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He said at a speech at the school in 2015,
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according to The Gates Foundation,
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"Lakeside was one of the best things that ever happened to me.
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The experience and insight Paul Allen and I gained here
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gave us the confidence to start a company based on this wild idea
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that nobody else agreed with
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that computer chips were going to become so powerful
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that computers and software would become a tool
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that would be on every desk and in every home.
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If there had been no Lakeside, there would have been no Microsoft."
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Rory's moves after graduating the school were kept quiet
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to protect his privacy,
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but it wouldn't be long until he was spotted at the University of Chicago,
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where he's believed to be currently attending.
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In 2018, the school shared a photo of him
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along with the school's Moot Court team,
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leading many to believe Rory's pursuing a law degree.
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One of Melinda Gates' proudest moments with Rory
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was watching him grow up respecting women and their place in the world.
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She reflected on this in a 2017 essay for Time, sharing,
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"Across 18 years of conversations, sharp observations and everyday actions,
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he's demonstrated his belief
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that gender equality is something worth standing up for.
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When we talk about these issues at the dinner table,
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he and his friends have a lot to say."
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Melinda also told a story of a time Rory accompanied her to East Africa.
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While there, the two talked to some local men
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who were looking to change the ideas around gender norms
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by splitting domestic work with their wives.
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Melinda was impressed, but Rory wasn't.
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She wrote,
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"I thought that, in many ways, what these men were doing was extraordinary.
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Rory respectfully disagreed.
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He told me he thinks that standing up to unfair norms
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is nothing more than exactly what men everywhere should be doing.
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Yes, he recognizes that the more entrenched the norms,
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the more courage it takes to confront them.
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But he also believes that it's a universal responsibility
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and one that he's already striving to uphold in his own life."
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