Mon, 03 Feb 2025

Bill Gates has given away billions, but 'still has more to give'

The Microsoft co-founder says he enjoys giving away his fortune and it won't leave his kids poor.
Early Life and Education
* Bill Gates was born into a comfortable family, with his father being a lawyer.
* He attended Lakeside School in Seattle, where he got access to an early mainframe computer via a teletype machine.
* The school's mothers held a jumble sale to raise money for the computer, which eventually gave four students, including Gates and Paul Allen, access to it. Microsoft and Career
* Gates co-founded Microsoft with Paul Allen, setting up one of the most successful tech companies in the world.
* He talks about his obsessive nature, hyperfocusing on subjects he was interested in, and how this helped him succeed in his career.
* Gates mentions that he hasn't had a formal diagnosis for being on the autism spectrum but thinks it's likely. Neurodiversity and Silicon Valley
* Gates believes that neurodiversity is overrepresented in Silicon Valley because individuals with certain conditions are more likely to excel in complex subjects.
* He references Elon Musk, who has also spoken about having Asperger's syndrome. Meetings with Donald Trump and Mark Zuckerberg
* Gates mentions meeting with President Donald Trump for a three-hour dinner on 27 December to discuss global health issues.
* He expresses concerns about the boundaries between free speech and truth in social media and how companies are navigating these issues. Concerns about Social Media
* Gates is worried about the impact of social networking on children, suggesting that banning under-16s from using it might be a "smart thing".
* He thinks social media can absorb people's time and make them worry about others' approval. Vaccination Debates
* Gates dismisses Robert F Kennedy Jr.'s claims about vaccines as misleading.
* The article notes that this is not the first time Gates has been involved in public debates on vaccination policies. The article concludes with some background information on how it was written, mentioning that Leon Edwards will be interviewed by Louis Theroux for a different project.
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