Which honor did Queen Elizabeth II give Bill Gates in 2005?

Queen Elizabeth II gave Bill Gates an honorary knighthood in 2005.

The honor recognized Gates’s contributions to business, employment, and international efforts addressing poverty and disease. He was appointed an honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, commonly abbreviated KBE.

Because Gates is an American citizen, the appointment was honorary. He could not use the title “Sir” in the British manner. This is why references usually describe him as receiving an honorary knighthood rather than becoming a British knight with the full styling attached to substantive British recipients.

The honor is sometimes confused with Gates’s other international awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the United States in 2016 and India’s Padma Bhushan in 2015. Those are separate honors from different governments.