When you possess the kind of wealth that transforms entire industries and reshapes global philanthropy, the word “no” becomes more of a temporary inconvenience than a permanent barrier.
Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder whose fortune has made him one of the most influential figures of our time, peculiarly demonstrated this mindset — by paying a daily parking fee for over a decade to store a car he couldn’t legally drive.
Parked & Paid
According to Luxury Launches, the saga began in 1988, when Gates, already riding high on Microsoft’s explosive growth, decided to treat himself to something extraordinary. Having previously owned a Porsche 911 and the notoriously tricky 930 Turbo — a car that even landed him in jail for speeding — when he set his sights on the Porsche 959.
This wasn’t just any sports car; it was a marvel born from the wild world of Group B rallying, where automakers pushed the boundaries of performance and innovation.
The 959 emerged from Porsche’s commitment to Group B racing, which required manufacturers to build at least 200 street-legal versions of their race cars. What Porsche delivered was groundbreaking. The 959 boasted a 2.85-liter twin-turbo flat-six engine, an advanced all-wheel drive system called PSK, electronically adjustable suspension, and a lightweight Kevlar-and-aluminum body. It could accelerate from zero to 60 mph in under four seconds and reach nearly 200 mph — making it the fastest street-legal production car in the world at the time.
But when Gates had the car shipped to the U.S., he hit a bureaucratic wall.
The 959 had never undergone crash testing for American roads and didn’t meet U.S. emissions standards. Porsche had no plans to sacrifice one of the rare cars for compliance testing, leaving Gates with a dream machine stuck in customs limbo. Upon arrival at the Port of Seattle, U.S. Customs impounded the vehicle and placed it in a Foreign-Trade Zone warehouse, where it would remain in legal purgatory.
Instead of giving up or sending the car back to Europe, Gates made a characteristically bold move: he decided to wait it out. He began paying a daily storage fee of $28 to keep the car in the warehouse, with the hope that U.S. regulations would eventually change. Day after day, year after year, the meter kept running. By the time his long automotive standoff ended, Gates had spent more than $133,000 on storage — about $300,000 in today’s dollars — plus annual bond renewal fees of $500.
To Gates, this wasn’t wasted money but a calculated investment in brilliance. The 959 was decades ahead of its time, packed with innovations such as variable torque distribution, ride height adjustment, and tire pressure monitoring systems — features that wouldn’t be common in other production cars for years. It wasn’t just a car; it was a symbol of what engineering could achieve.
Gates isn’t the only billionaire undeterred by red tape.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos reportedly paid $1,000 a month in fines rather than trim the illegally tall hedges around his $175 million Beverly Hills mansion. For the ultra-wealthy, rules often feel like flexible guidelines — more subscription than restriction.
Eventually, Gates helped change the system. Working alongside car builder Bruce Canepa and attorney Warren Dean, he lobbied for new exemptions that would allow low-volume, high-tech vehicles like the 959 to be legally imported. After years of advocacy, the law changed, and Gates finally retrieved his long-awaited prize.
Despite his willingness to splurge on his passions, Gates and his ex-wife Melinda took a different approach when raising their children. Melinda emphasized middle-class values, insisting their children do chores, receive allowances, and perform community service—even as they lived in immense wealth.
Still, the realities of privilege were impossible to fully avoid. For her college graduation, daughter Jennifer received a $16 million horse farm.
The Porsche 959 story offers a unique window into the multi-billionaire’s mind, where obstacles are just prolonged expenses and patience is part of the price tag. For Gates, those 13 years of daily fees weren’t just the cost of storing a car — they were a testament to the idea that truly exceptional things are worth waiting for.
7bu3ra