Thorner: What’s the story behind Bill Gates’ mask?

By Nancy Thorner –

Bill Gates, as most people think of him, is not the person that hides behind the billions he donates when his questionable motives and causes behind his benevolence are scrutinized.

This biography of Bill Gates (1955 – ) was updated April 8, 2020.  The very first entry reads as follows:   

“Entrepreneur Bill Gates founded the world's largest software business, Microsoft, with Paul Allen, and subsequently became one of the richest men in the world.”

Netflix’s three-part documentary

In the fall of 2019, Netflix premiered a three-part documentary, Inside Bill's Brain.  Director Davis Guggenheim promised viewers a rare look at the inner life of Bill Gates.  Over three hours in length, the three-series documentary portrays the emotional side to Bill Gates as he processes the loss of his mother and the death of his  estranged best friend, Microsoft cofounder, Paul Allen.  View here the official trailer for Inside Bill's Brain.

As Tim Schwab, freelance journalist based in Washington, D.C., relates about the Guggenheim film in his March 17, 2020 article, Bill Gates's Charity Paradox:

“The Guggenheim film mostly reinforces the image many of us already had of Bill Gates as an ambitious technologist, an insatiable brainiac, and heroic philanthropist.”

Schwab speaks of a common trap director Guggenheim fell into by attempting to understand the world’s second-richest human by interviewing people in his sphere of financial influence.

For example, in Guggenheim’s first episode an interview takes place of Bernie Noe, described as a friend of Gates. What isn't told is that Noe is the principal of  Lakeside School, a private institution to which the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given $80 million.

The filmmaker also doesn’t mention the extraordinary conflict of interest this presents: The Gates’s used their charitable foundation to enrich the private school their children attend, which charges students  $35,000 a year.

Schwab likewise points out this blind spot in Guggenheim's 3-part documentary. The timing of its release occurred just as news was trickling out that Bill Gates met multiple times with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to discuss collaborating on charitable activities.  Although the collaboration never materialized, Epstein stood to generate millions of dollars in management fees.

Billionaire philanthropist Michael Bloomberg foundered when using his wealth trying to win the presidency.  For Gates, there is a far easier path to political power that allows an unelected billionaire through charitable giving to shape public policy in ways that almost always generate favorable headlines.

Gates steps down from Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway boards

For Rob Larson, Gates' dual announcement was a perfect time to remember that Bill Gates' Philanthropic giving is a racket, which was also the title of his April 5, 2020 article

In Focusing My Time , posted on March 13, 2020, Bill Gates announced his dual departure:

“I have made the decision to step down from both of the public boards on which I serve – Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway – to dedicate more time to philanthropic priorities including global health and development, education, and my increasing engagement in tackling climate change.”

According to Larson, Bill Gates and his foundation – “the world’s largest private charitable entity with billions in its endowment used for fighting AIDS, accelerating economic development, and many other causes” — is the perfect picture of why this model of billionaire philanthropy is so flawed.

As to the origin of Gates’s foundation, it was originally cooked up as a feel-good gloss to cover up his shredded reputation during Microsoft’s antitrust trial. This puts Gates in the long tradition of obscenely rich people using the occasional generous gift to try justifying their enormous wealth and power.

The business press has observed how “Twenty years ago, people associated the name Gates with ‘ruthless, predatory’ monopolistic conduct.” However, “after taking a public relations beating during [the Microsoft antitrust] trial’s early going in late 1998, the company started what was described at the time as a ‘charm offensive’ aimed at improving its image . . . Mr. Gates contributed $20.3 billion, or 71 percent of his total contributions to the foundation . . . during the 18 months between the start of the trial and the verdict.” A wealth manager frankly states, “his philanthropy has helped ‘rebrand’ his name."

Is it any wonder that corporate media happily helps to spit-shine Gates' reputation as a generous benefactor of humanity instead of a petty, bullying scumbag?

Alex Newman defines Gates’ scoundrel image

An excellent article by Alex Newman in the June 22, 2020 issue of The New American, Bill Gates: Philanthropist or Scoundrel?, points out why the scoundrel image of Bill Gates is fitting and appropriate.

Newman is an international journalist, educator, author, and consultant. He currently serves as a foreign correspondent for The New American magazine, a contributor to WND, and more.

The following important and extremely troublesome facts about Bill Gates are detailed by Alex Newman in his article: