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Comment by adharmad

2 years ago

Any suggested readings/links? I am merely going by his current public persona and whatever the Gates Foundation is doing.

6 comments

adharmad

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jacquesm  2 years ago

Ah ok. Well, after he quit MS as day to day leader there was that bit around his divorce, the Epstein link and more sordidness.

Gates didn't really change, he just used his fortune to whitewash his reputation. He's still smart and I would be happy read what he has to say but a nice person he isn't and never was.

BiteCode_dev  2 years ago

You have to start reading about Gates before he spent millions to wash his reputation and adopted a disguise of philanthropist to buy a stairway to heaven. Anything before he left Microsoft, with the corruption scandals, the insults, the patent trolling, and so on.

It's getting harder and harder to find though. I should have saved offline compiled files.

  • SilverBirch  2 years ago

    I think there’s a legitimate line to draw between “bastard does capitalism” and “philanthropist post capitalism”. Bill Gates could have laundered his reputation just fine without committing to give away the majority of his wealth.

    • BiteCode_dev  2 years ago

      The foundation is not meant to give away Gates money while he is alive.

      It's a way to be able to keep investing his money without paying taxes.

      It only spends the legal minimal amount for charity, 5% (way less than taxes that would go to build roads, hospitals and schools). The rest is invested in a portfolio that, by the magic of being in a non profit, can make billions without paying any tax.

      Since he directs the charity, he can therefore move the capital where he needs it to, including founding Monsanto and weapon makers, which he had to withdraw from after people noticed that it was quite the opposite of the claimed foundation mission.

      That's why most billionaires have some kind of charity: they keep all the power of their money, get good PR (which given that the wealth gap makes people grumpy, is a great shield) and they optimize their finance while people defend them.

      The PR operations worked well: most people on the internet now believe that Gates is a good person. A statement that would have made anybody smile in the 90'.

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