Bill Gates reveals his secrets!

In a wide-ranging and candid interview with British newspaper, The Daily Mail, Microsoft founder Bill Gates has revealed some personal details for the first time.

Here is a snapshot of the key details of the interview, which you can read in full on the newspaper's web site.

...

His children like to tease him by singing the song Billionaire by Travie McCoy and Bruno Mars.

Travie McCoy and Bruno Mars's hit reached number three in the United States and the United Kingdom last year.

...

He's now given $28 billion to charity. His charity foundation has assets worth $37.1 billion, thanks in part to contributions of shares from his mentor, American investor Warren Buffett.

...

His three children, currently aged 15, 12 and nine, will reportedly inherit $10 million each (although Gates wouldn't disclose that amount in the interview), a slender sliver of his $56 billion net worth, because Gates says: "I don't think that amount of money would be good for them."

...

Did U2 star Bono invite Gates backstage when U2 was performing in Seattle? Not necessary, because Bono was staying at Bill's house that night.

...

Now dedicating his career to his $37.1 billion charitable foundation, Gates says when asked if he'll return to Microsoft full-time: "No. I'm part-time involved. But this is my job now."

...

Why try to cure malaria instead of cancer? Gates said: "The world is putting massive amounts into cancer, so my wealth would have had a meaningless impact on that."

...

He haggles for good prices on vaccines: "We are super-smart about what we pay. We get price reductions. We can track how many kids get the vaccines."

...

People in Third World countries have no idea who he is. "They don't know who I am because it doesn't relate to their world. I went to one place (apparently it was Uttar Pradesh) with the chief minister and someone said: 'Who is this guy?', and the chief minister said: 'This is a white-skinned guy I brought with me'."

...

He has a Twitter account, but had a problem with Facebook: "Because the friend requests got out of hand."

...

And the secret: Gates inadvertently revealed that his friend, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, is engaged to longtime girlfriend Priscilla Chan.

During the interview, Gates was talking about Zuckerberg and referred to Chan as Mark's "fiancee Priscilla".

But the news was later denied by Zuckerberg's team.

. . .

He never took a day off in his 20s, not a single day. "I'm still fanatical, but now I'm a little less fanatical. I play tennis, I play bridge, I spend time with my family."

...

He says legacy is a stupid thing. "I don't want a legacy. If people look and see that childhood deaths dropped from nine million a year to four million because of our investment, then, wow! I liken what I'm doing now to my old job."

...

His pride and joy is the Codex Leicester, one of Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks, which he bought in 1994 for $30.8 million.

"I'm lucky that I own that notebook. I've always been amazed by Da Vinci because he worked out science on his own. He would work by drawing things and writing down his ideas."

...

In a letter to her daughter-in-law on the eve of the wedding, Bill Gates' mother wrote: "From those to whom much is given, much is expected."