Billionaire, Nerd, Saviour, King by Anupreeta Das – A Call to Cancel Bill Gates

Houston, we have a billionaire problem. There are 2,781 individuals in the world worth more than a billion dollars, according to Forbes, and together these people have a net worth of $14.2tn, roughly the GDP of the Eurozone. The US boasts more super-rich than any other country, including eight of the planet’s 10 richest men. Notably, all but one of these eight made their fortunes in the tech sector, including well-known figures like Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, and Gates.

So what, you might say – there’s no law against accruing vast wealth. These individuals have worked hard for their luxury Gulfstream jets and yacht-sized boats. But with great piles of cash comes significant power, and too often billionaires find ways around our fragile systems of democratic oversight. They evade taxes, influence politics and the media, create monopolies, and disproportionately damage the planet. This issue is growing, given that big money tends to grow faster than small money or no money at all. Forbes states that in 2024, billionaires are collectively $2tn better off than the previous year.

I was primed to cheer every swing Das takes at Gates and his dreadful money. Instead, I found myself inwardly trying to defend him.

The context is ripe, then, for Anupreeta Das’s book “Billionaire, Nerd, Saviour, King.” The former finance editor of the New York Times delves into the life and wealth of Microsoft’s iconic founder, documenting Bill Gates’s journey from a boy computer whiz to the world’s richest man to a renowned philanthropist.

First, a little disclosure. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has supported global development coverage for many years. Following the tradition of editorial independence, I initially prepared to applaud every critique Das lays on Gates and his wealth. However, I found myself inwardly defending him.

The book sets itself as an exposé of Gates’s life and secrets. However, Das interweaves the Gates narrative with social commentary under subheadings such as “Myths of the Nerd Ecosystem.” Sometimes, these digressions include interviews with people only tangentially related to Gates. For instance, a section on anti-vaxxer conspiracy theories about Gates begins with an amateur artist’s take from Spokane, whom Das introduces because he finds Gates untrustworthy due to his dress sense. Oddly, Das doesn’t start or end with Gates but frames the book with chapters on America’s obsession with wealth, somewhat generic content that leaves readers pondering Gates’s role.

Here Gates appears in chapter two. It’s 1975, and Bill and his school pal Paul Allen are coding the first lines for what will become Microsoft. Finally, a glimpse into Gates’s extraordinary life. But Das quickly pulls away to discuss “nerdism” and its social implications. She explores who a nerd is, typically depicted as a young, white, solitary male displaying traits associated with autism. Das criticizes this dominance in the early tech industry, suggesting it discouraged those who weren’t white, solitary, geeky, or male. While there’s logic here, was this entirely Gates’s fault? And shouldn’t there be a celebration of the neurodiverse instead of a negative view?

Das continues with Microsoft’s ascent. Gates becomes America’s youngest billionaire at 31, a tech rock star deeply “nerdy.” We focus on his terrible clothes, greasy glasses, bad hair, and dreadful conversation. However, Gates is scarily authoritative, described as “imperious” and detail-oriented. He grows Microsoft using sharp practices, buying out competition or excluding their products from his software platforms. Soon, he’s likened to 19th-century “robber barons.” In the 1990s, antitrust legislation is used against Microsoft, turning Gates into a PR nightmare. Then he steps away from the company and, with his wife Melinda, decides to save the world.

The Gates Foundation is launched, using data- and results-driven practices. Bill persuades fellow billionaires to pledge money, creating one of history’s largest private philanthropic enterprises. Here, some recognition is due. The foundation has prevented millions of deaths, channeling billions into fighting AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria globally. They co-founded Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which vaccinated half the world’s children. During Covid, while another billionaire suggested ingesting bleach, the Gates-backed Covax partnership procured over 1bn vaccine doses for poorer countries. Yet, Das sees the foundation as “bigfooting,” “neocolonial,” and “antidemocratic,” viewing it as an egotistical attempt by Bill to charity-wash his image.

Serious material follows regarding Gates’s contacts with Jeffrey Epstein. It emerged in 2019 that Gates met Epstein multiple times between 2011 and 2014. Gates admitted it was “a huge mistake” to associate with Epstein. When these meetings came to light, Gates’s personal life was scrutinized. He acknowledged having an affair and was reported to have made advances towards colleagues. Despite being described as “far from predatory,” Das hints at suspicion around his behavior and Melinda’s departure in 2021.

While the Epstein affair may one day further tarnish Gates, Das finds no new incriminating evidence. Her conclusion that Gates is a “protean creature” switching between “entitled hero” and “hubristic villain” seems exaggerated. Her final chapter “Cancel Bill” feels like a plea to the public to dismiss Gates. As of now, considering what other billionaires do, this appeal seems slightly unfair.

Source: The Guardian