Born in 1944, Bill Gross is an American financier, co-founder of PIMCO (Pacific Investment Management Co.), and the legendary 'Bond King' who revolutionized fixed-income investing. His intellectual foundation was highly quantitative. He received his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

His most formative early experience came not in a classroom, but in a casino. Gross, applying his mathematical prowess and intense discipline, became a skilled player of blackjack in Las Vegas in the late 1960s, successfully beating the system through advantage play and card counting. This experience taught him two critical lessons that would define his investment philosophy: the need to control emotion and the power of mathematical models to exploit market inefficiencies. He would later adapt this probabilistic, high-stakes mindset to the traditionally dull world of bond trading.

Bill Gross co-founded PIMCO in 1971, transforming the fixed-income market entirely. At the time, bonds were passive instruments held in vaults. Gross recognized that these debt instruments could be actively traded, innovating new ways for corporations to raise capital and generating massive profits. His firm was willing to take on more credit risk—expanding into derivatives, mortgage-backed securities, and junk bonds—leveraging Gross's rare ability to 'distil complex ideas into something simple and accessible.'

PIMCO's flagship Total Return Fund, which Gross managed, became one of the largest mutual funds in the world, peaking near $300 billion in assets and consistently outperforming its benchmark. This success earned him the moniker 'The Bond King' from Fortune magazine in 2002. The latter part of his career was marked by an acrimonious, public departure from PIMCO in 2014, followed by a move to Janus Capital Group, and later a lawsuit against PIMCO, which was settled in his favor in 2017 for $81 million, all of which he pledged to charity. His career defined the modern bond market.

Bill Gross is a major philanthropist, known for his large-scale giving to social causes, science, and the arts. His giving is structured through the proceeds of his career and legal settlements.

• Charitable Pledges: He pledged his entire $81 million legal settlement from PIMCO to charity in 2017.
• The William H. Gross Stamp Gallery: His patronage of philately, providing the world's largest public space for the hobby, is a significant cultural contribution.
• Economic Advice: Following the 2008 financial crisis, he advised the U.S. Treasury on the role of sub-prime mortgage bonds and supported the Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP), using his financial expertise for national crisis resolution.
• Focus on Education: His philanthropic efforts often focus on addressing the rising displacement of workers due to automation and the lack of upskilled replacement jobs.

Bill Gross maintains a quirky, disciplined, and intellectual style. His attire is consistently neat and professional, favoring tailored suits and classic business wear, though he is known for his sometimes eccentric personality quirks and 'unscripted' prose in his famous investment outlooks. He has openly described himself as an introvert and an Asperger who can successfully compartmentalize his business and personal life.

His luxury is expressed through his private art and stamp collections. His immense wealth affords him the autonomy to pursue his obsession with the markets, which he calls his 'butterflies and roses.' His life is a testament to the success of applying complex mathematical models and ruthless logic to the world's largest financial markets.