Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates once revisited a long-forgotten childhood memory — the day a rare tornado tore through his quiet Seattle neighborhood, damaging his family home and shocking meteorologists across the Pacific Northwest.

Gates Recalls The Rare Seattle Tornado That Hit His Home

In a video shared on his YouTube channel earlier this month, Gates described the terrifying moment in vivid detail.

"My parents, my older sister Christy and I were living in a nice neighborhood in Seattle and a very unusual thing happened," he said. 

"A tornado came through my neighborhood. My mom was holding the door to the garage to go out and she couldn't even open it — we could hear the wind. So, we went down into the basement."

When the storm passed, the Gates family went upstairs to find their home partially destroyed. 

"The tornado literally blew that carport roof over our house," Gates recalled. "Didn't land on the house, thank goodness. It landed in our backyard. It was just wild. Our house was actually the one that got hit the hardest."

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The 1962 Tornado That Shocked Seattle

The tornado struck on Sept. 28, 1962 — the first ever recorded in Western Washington by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to The Seattle Times.

Wind speeds were estimated to reach 100 mph as the twister tore through the city's View Ridge neighborhood before crossing Lake Washington and dissipating in Snohomish County.

The storm uprooted trees, smashed car windows and ripped roofs off homes. No injuries were reported, but total damage was estimated at tens of thousands of dollars — roughly $250,000 in today's value.

A young Gates, then six years old, reportedly worried most about his bicycle, which miraculously survived the chaos unscathed.

From Tornado Survivor To Tech Visionary

Now 69, Gates is one of the world's wealthiest individuals, with a net worth of about $122 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index.

Earlier this year, he pledged to donate 99% of his remaining tech wealth to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which plans to close by 2045.

Microsoft scores highly in Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings, with Growth in the 97th percentile and Momentum in the 75th, underscoring its solid position against rivals.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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