News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media. Parent comment

Re:Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media by jillesvangurp on Monday August 10, 2020 @01:51AM (#24105997)
Because he's not just randomly throwing money around and has a well earned reputation for getting a decent return on his investments: he tends to spend money on things that work. So given that he's actively spending money and getting results, his perspective on what things need to be invested in and why is very interesting.

There are plenty of rich philanthropists but very few with Gates's level of understanding and ability to make good policy choices.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media by blub on Monday August 10, 2020 @03:12AM (#24106467)
Managing the foundation as a business with the goal of maximizing return on investment is precisely one of the criticism leveled at Gates. Note that return on investment refers to financial return, not some abstract notion about improving the world.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media by jillesvangurp on Monday August 10, 2020 @04:03AM (#24106729)
I think there's nothing with focusing on ROI in a foundation that presumably does not enrich shareholders (which a foundation does not have) and instead puts any savings to good use doing more of whatever they want to do.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media by blub on Monday August 10, 2020 @07:14AM (#24107954)
Focusing on ROI means that they deal with less savory companies, sometimes creating obvious conflicts of interest with their mission.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media by tasogare on Monday August 10, 2020 @02:11AM (#24106107)
> he tends to spend money on things that work

Like on WHO? The organization that lied for months about the potentiality of the covid to become a pandemic and that is excluding on political ground the country that handle best the virus (Taiwan). By still sponsoring this China’s lying organization, Bill Gates lost credibility in my eyes.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media by versteegen on Monday August 10, 2020 @10:32AM (#24109656)
You seem to be misremembering WHO's reluctance to declare that the pandemic had reached the criteria to be called a "pandemic" (due to having been accused of being too hasty last time) as something... entirely else.
[ Parent | on HN ]