In this engaging discussion, Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and renowned philanthropist, shares insights from his memoir, "Source Code." He reflects on his childhood rebellion and the foundations of Microsoft, revealing how therapy influenced his independence. Gates tackles the detrimental impact of conspiracy theories on public trust in vaccines and criticizes the current socio-political landscape. He also discusses the complexities of integrating philanthropy with political ties after his significant dinner with Donald Trump, while emphasizing the importance of addressing economic inequality.
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Dinner at Mar-a-Lago
Bill Gates donated to Kamala Harris's campaign but still engaged with Trump after his win.
He had a long dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago to discuss policy, especially HIV funding.
insights INSIGHT
Political Backlash Concerns
Bill Gates expresses concern about potential political backlash for supporting Democrats.
He highlights broad attacks on foundations and vaccines.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Vaccine Conspiracy Theories
Bill Gates became the target of conspiracy theories, including one about microchipping people through vaccines.
He attributes this to people's desire for simplistic explanations during the pandemic.
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In 'Source Code,' Bill Gates shares an intimate and personal story of his early life, including his childhood in Seattle, his close relationship with his family, and his struggles to fit in. The book details his discovery of coding and computing, his time at Harvard, and his decision to drop out to start Microsoft with Paul Allen. It also touches on his interactions with key figures like Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Steve Ballmer, and ends with Microsoft's first deal with Apple in the late 1970s. The memoir highlights Gates' extraordinary mind, his business acumen, and his personal growth, offering a warm and inspiring portrait of his life before he became a public figure.
In the nineteen-eighties and nineties, Bill Gates was the best known of a new breed: the tech mogul—a coder who had figured out how to run a business, and who then seemed to be running the world. Gates was ranked the richest person in the world for many years. In a new memoir, “Source Code,” he explains how he got there. The book focusses on Gates’s early life, and just through the founding of Microsoft. Since stepping away from the company, Gates has devoted himself to his foundation, which is one of the largest nonprofits working on public health around the globe. That has made him the target of conspiracy theories by anti-vaxxers, including Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who has asserted that Gates and Anthony Fauci are together responsible for millions of deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. Gates views the rise of conspiracy thinking as symptomatic of larger trends in American society exacerbated by technology. “The fact that outrage is rewarded because it’s more engaging, that’s kind of a human weakness,” he tells David Remnick. “And the fact that I thought everybody would be doing deep analysis of facts and seeking out the actual studies on vaccine safety—boy, was that naïve. When the pandemic came, people wanted some evil genius to be behind it. Not some bat biology.”
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