Bill Gates now uses an Android phone with “lots of Microsoft software”

Laurent Giret

It’s no big secret that many Microsoft execs and employees no longer use Windows phones, but it’s still quite interesting to learn that former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates doesn’t belong to the 1% crowd. To be fair, Gates no longer had an executive role during Microsoft’s recent mobile troubles, so you couldn’t really expect him to be a diehard Windows Phone fan. But yes, Bill Gates now uses an Android phone, just like the majority of consumers worldwide.

The former exec made the confession during an interview with Fox News yesterday, saying that he switched to an Android phone with “lots of Microsoft software” on it. This would have been quite a risky statement to make a few years ago when Microsoft was still trying hard to build an alternative to iOS and Android, but at this point, even Satya Nadella admitting he’s an Android user wouldn’t really be bad PR for the Redmond giant. As a matter of fact, even Microsoft has been selling a Microsoft Edition of the Samsung Galaxy S8 in the US over the last couple of months.

Bill Gates is still Bill Gates though, and the Microsoft co-founder stated in this same interview that he’s still using all Windows-based PCs. Now, we do wonder if he uses a Surface as his main device, as does former CEO Steve Ballmer.