[snogglethorpe]

> but generally thought of him as an intelligent, charismatic and, more recently, very generous man.

Er, Bill Gates is definitely a smart guy, but he's never been known as charismatic, or even nice. His reputation at MS was pretty nasty. [I'm talking about his "inside" reputation, to employees; his "outside" reputation tended to be conflated with that of MS (this is very different, for instance, than Steve Jobs, who left a pretty strong impression even on the general public).]

Of course, he's doubtless mellowed with age and with his new post-business role.