In a 1994 CBS interview, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates performed what unusual trick on camera?

The story behind the answer

Correct: Bill Gates jumped over an office chair. In a 1994 CBS interview, he was asked about the stunt and promptly demonstrated it on camera, cleanly clearing the chair in one hop—making the other options (handstand typing, standing on his head, or leaping a desk) incorrect.

The clip became an early tech-culture touchstone, reinforcing Gates’s image as a quirky, energetic founder and was later parodied in the film Pirates of Silicon Valley. Memory tip: think “Gates clears the gate”—he didn’t flip or type upside down; he simply vaulted the everyday office obstacle, the chair.