Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by jnwatson 7 days ago
Bill Gates is a great counterexample to the article's premise. Always clearly a nerd, yet led a company that no one loved and many people hated for its strategy of embrace, extend, extinguish.

Post-CEO, he had completely refurbished his image via philanthropy, only to throw it away with the Epstein stuff.
5 comments
jordand 7 days ago
Your perception of him is the result of a very carefully crafted image and PR management going back decades to the 80's. His behaviour and controversies with Microsoft have been well known since the 90's (Melinda Gates relationship, anti-trust probe etc.) and even with more recent allegations in 2019. Link: https://www.wsj.com/business/microsoft-directors-decided-bil...
link
Spooky23 7 days ago
Grandpa Gates was PR bullshit - he was always a notorious asshole.

It really demonstrates the nature of people. Richest guy on the planet for quite awhile, but can’t manage his relationships and spends his time chasing skirts. To the point where he’s a target for Epstein the apex predator.

In the Microsoft cinematic universe, Ballmer is the foil.

link
AngryData 7 days ago
Gates has done some good with his money but a lot of stuff about him reads like pure PR to me.

Its like hearing about how Ford supposedly increased wages so people could buy cars, but when you actually look at the details that was just the PR spin to having hired, worked to injury, then fired so many people that large wages were the only way to keep enough employees to run the factories by convincing people in other states to come blindly move in under the promise of money.

Most every "good" story about him outside of donating money later on ends up with not so great details and reality.

link
yuye 5 days ago
>Most every "good" story about him outside of donating money later on ends up with not so great details and reality.

It's pretty well known he was a huge antisemite.

Then again, from what I understand, antisemitism was pretty popular in the US in the early 20th century. It was only after WWII that it became more of a taboo.

link
lucideer 7 days ago
Bill Gates' nerd image was as falsified as his philanthropic one. He was a shrewd businessman & knew PR well, that is all.
link
keeda 6 days ago
All the replies questioning Gate's nerd cred and philanthropy are incorrect.

1) There is ample evidence of him being a huge nerd. You can find dozens of references about how sharp he was technically at Microsoft. Here's one of the better known blogs: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2006/06/16/my-first-billg-rev...

He even published a paper on a Math problem in undergrad before dropping out to start MSFT: https://www.npr.org/2008/07/04/92236781/before-microsoft-gat...

2) I would challenge all the commenters claiming his philanthropic work is "falsified" or "just PR" or "mostly self-serving" to prove it, keeping in mind there are ample public records all over the place.

You can dislike a person, especially Gates who was famously a huge jerk, but really... let's stick to facts please.

link