I don't see the parallel to Gates. Bill Gates wasn't always popular because many people hated Microsoft at the time. I don't think there was ever concern that he treated workers wrongly or abused the tax system to get rich. I don't buy that Gates set up the foundation just to improve his image. He is really invested in these topics.

For Bezos that could very well be true. Interestingly enough Amazon used to have a really positive public image until about 1-2 years ago. If he had quit any earlier, maybe his image would be much better now.