Why There's No New Steve Jobs Or Zuckerberg — Bill Gates Names The Only 20-Something Founder Who's Still In The Game

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates couldn't name many young tech founders leading groundbreaking companies from this era, with only one exception — Alexandr Wang.

What Happened: During a conversation with Stripe CEO Patrick Collison at the Computer History Museum, Gates was asked to name any founders in their 20s who are at the top of the technology industry today.

His only nomination was Wang, the 28-year-old founder and CEO of Scale AI, the company that supplies data to power leading AI models, serving organizations like OpenAI and Microsoft.

"I think Alex Wang, who does AI data, he’s still in his 20s," Gates said.

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Collison, who agreed with Gates’ assessment, noted that in past decades, there was always a defining young founder leading innovation — naming Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Gates, and Michael Dell as examples.

However, he said that identifying a current equivalent proved difficult.

In response, Gates pointed to the changing tech landscape, saying that when he and Jobs started, the industry was full of "virgin territory" where young entrepreneurs could disrupt established players.

He said that today's environment is different, making it harder for new entrants to break through.

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Why It's Important: Established in 2016, Wang's Scale AI emerged as a key player in the AI sector well before OpenAI's ChatGPT became widely recognized.

Last year, Scale AI secured $1 billion in funding, bringing its valuation to $13.8 billion.

The round was led by Accel, with participation from nearly all of Scale's existing investors. These include Y Combinator, Nat Friedman, Index Ventures, Founders Fund, Coatue, Thrive Capital, Spark Capital, Nvidia Corporation, Tiger Global, Greenoaks, and Wellington Management.

New investors also joined the round including Cisco Investments, DFJ Growth, Intel Capital, ServiceNow Ventures, AMD Ventures, WCM, Amazon, Elad Gil, and Meta Platforms, Inc.

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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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