Re:These breakthroughs will make 2021 better than 2020
by rohit89 on Wednesday December 23, 2020 @07:38AM
(#25516935)
Just because you enjoy crushing business rivals doesn't mean you also want kids to die young. I think Gates simply enjoys the challenge and the technical side of things.
Re:These breakthroughs will make 2021 better than 2020
by throwaw999 on Wednesday December 23, 2020 @07:58AM
(#25517111)
I'm not saying he wants kids to die young, please don't strawman me. I think Gates career as CEO points into direction he enjoys acquiring and wielding power. He stepped down from being CEO in 2008, this was long after Windows won. It's also possible that he enjoys both technical side of challenges and being powerful at the same time.
In my opinion, his philanthropy work is just another playground. Power is addictive and now he has way to exercise power over world outside the tech industry. Quick Google search shows he spent 45B$ on his foundation... and another search shows his net worth is still 119B$. This is still more money that I can imagine, even if he spent 99.9% of it he would still be richer than I can ever hope for. And honestly, his personal brand is so strong that even after zeroing on his account balance he could become multimillionaire in no time.
Maybe I'm overly cynical. Maybe my memory fails me and I'm mistaken about how bad reputation he and his company had back in the day. But it's hard for me to buy this 180 degree turn from ruthless CEO into great philanthropist. Now, I'm not saying his antichrist and he planned the pandemic 20 years ahead; I just would appreciate some healthy skepticism.