The ultimate nerd, Bill Gates to star on Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory is about to get even more star power. Photo / Supplied

One of the biggest names in nerd-dom is set to drop by The Big Bang Theory much to the delight of geeks Sheldon, Leonard, Howard and Raj.

Microsoft founder Bill gates will make a special guest appearance as himself in a late March episode of the show.

According to the Daily Mail, the 62-year-old is due to attend a work function at the pharmaceutical company where Kaley Cuoco's character Penny works.

Getting wind of the VIP visit, her husband Leonard, played by Johnny Galecki; Sheldon, played by Jim Parsons; Simon Helberg's Howard and Raj, played by Kunnal Nayyar do everything in their power to meet the computer icon.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Photo / AP

Fans may remember that Bill made an off-screen appearance in the fourth season when Raj, Leonard and Howard gleefully retold the story to Raj's sister, Priya, in the episode, The Toast Derivation.

"Gates gave a speech at the university," Raj explained. "Sheldon went up to him afterwards and said, 'Maybe if you weren't so distracted by sick children in Africa, you could've put a little more thought into Windows Vista.'"

"Bam! Right in the nose," Leonard added triumphantly.

Gates is the latest in an long line of celebrity castings on the CBS sitcom.

He follows Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy and George Takei; Star Trek: The Next Generation's Wil Wheaton; Star Wars' Carrie Fisher and James Earl Jones; Apple's own Steve Wozniak; Tesla founder Elon Musk; physicist/cosmologist Stephen Hawking and comedian Bob Newhart to name a few.