Bill Gates: The richest man, but nobody's hero

As a kid, I used to think of Bill Gates as a genius entrepreneur and hero of sorts. Then I read Paul Allen Sir's Idea Man (a brilliant book!) in 2016 and my perception of him changed 180.

Then I came to know of his stance on clinical trials and using poor people from third world countries for all sorts of things. That was super wierd, and made me question my respect for him. But as if that wasn't enough, there came his opinions on Covid vaccines, and how the developed nations should "get them first" (after which developing countries could be considered, because a patent is more valuable than poor people’s lives). That was a real shocker for me.

But as if that wasn't enough, I then came to know about him trying to "save the world" by promoting green energy in all ways, while also having a multi-billion dollar short position on Tesla, a company which had done more for championing green mobility than anyone on earth. That level of intellectualy dishonesty and hypocricy really broke my heart.

But as if that wasn't enough, I then came to know about his discussions with Mr. Musk, where he believed that Tesla Semi was "impossible" (even though it was literally being driven all over US) without having any clue about key ratios of the game. (Mr. Musk reportedly said, "When I asked what battery Wh/kg and truck Wh/mile he was using to reach the conclusion that it's 'impossible', Gates had no idea, but still stuck with his conclusion").

That was a revelation, because that's - for the lack of a better word - dumb. And I could never imagine Bill Gates being dumb. It really made me question my own sense of people.

But if that wasn't enough, I then found out that he got STDs from Russian prostitutes hired via Epstein, and sought his guidance on slipping anti-biotics in his wife's drinks. Now that's not just dumb, it’s pretty disgusting and pathetic. I think it can creep anyone out, as if by magic.

What's weird to admit is that Gates inspired me in profound ways for a very long time. He mentioned that he had been reading a book a week ever since he was a kid, and that made me start my own "52 books in a year" campaign (which I ran for 11 years straight). I even read two of his memoirs: Business At The Speed Of Thought, and The Road Ahead, which were extremely weak, but not weak enough to dissuade me. I used to follow his "Reading Recommendations" and spend hours trying to understand and appreciate them. That's how highly I thought of him. Just because he was the epitome of "success". The supposedly self made man who became the richest man of the world.

Only because he was successful, I thought he was great. When in truth, he was just a Pedo.

I spent good years of my life linking "success" with "greatness", but do these two things have anything in common? If Gates is to be considered, the answer is "nothing at all".

Success has very little to do with intelligence, grit, or even strength of character. And it's a terrible indicator of even basic decency, forget about greatness.

We got to be careful when choosing our heroes.

Bill Gates' ex-wife Melinda Gates reacting to the Epstein connection

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