Comment by jnwatson
10 hours ago
Bill Gates is a great counterexample to the article's premise. Always clearly a nerd, yet led a company that no one loved and many people hated for its strategy of embrace, extend, extinguish.
Post-CEO, he had completely refurbished his image via philanthropy, only to throw it away with the Epstein stuff.
Your perception of him is the result of a very carefully crafted image and PR management going back decades to the 80's. His behaviour and controversies with Microsoft have been well known since the 90's (Melinda Gates relationship, anti-trust probe etc.) and even with more recent allegations in 2019. Link: https://www.wsj.com/business/microsoft-directors-decided-bil...
Gates has done some good with his money but a lot of stuff about him reads like pure PR to me.
Its like hearing about how Ford supposedly increased wages so people could buy cars, but when you actually look at the details that was just the PR spin to having hired, worked to injury, then fired so many people that large wages were the only way to keep enough employees to run the factories by convincing people in other states to come blindly move in under the promise of money.
Most every "good" story about him outside of donating money later on ends up with not so great details and reality.
Bill Gates' nerd image was as falsified as his philanthropic one. He was a shrewd businessman & knew PR well, that is all.
Grandpa Gates was PR bullshit - he was always a notorious asshole.
It really demonstrates the nature of people. Richest guy on the planet for quite awhile, but can’t manage his relationships and spends his time chasing skirts. To the point where he’s a target for Epstein the apex predator.
In the Microsoft cinematic universe, Ballmer is the foil.