Bill Gates took to Reddit this week for his 11th Ask me everything (AMA), and over the course of the session, he answered questions about climate change, the ethics of being an extremely wealthy person, and some of the conspiracy theories surrounding his business practices.
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Here are some of the highlights:
On his farmland purchases and billionaire wealth:
I own less than 1/4,000 of the farmland in the US. I invested in these farms to make them more productive and create more jobs. There is no grand plan involved – in fact all of these decisions are made by a professional investment team.
In terms of the very wealthy, I think they should pay a lot more taxes and they should give their wealth away over time. It gives me great satisfaction and it is my full time job.
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On creating an economy that benefits the masses:
I’m surprised taxes haven’t been raised further. For example, capital gains rates may be the same as regular income rates. I know it’s hard for a lot of people.
About climate:
It is important to remember that life in poor countries is difficult right now. There are parts of the world where more than 10% of children die before they are 5 years old and where more than 30% are malnourished, so their brains and bodies do not fully develop.
Climate will slow down the progress we are making in improving the human condition, but I still believe we can avoid a terrible outcome. The pace of innovation is really picking up, even if we don’t meet current timelines or avoid going over 1.5.
On whether or not a billionaire can be “ethical”:
When you are rich, it is easy to lose touch. I still think the incentive to set up new companies is a good thing. Even if taxes go up, I still wouldn’t ban anyone from being worth a billion, but that’s just one opinion. I’ve been very lucky.
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On his focus on healthcare and vaccines:
When I saw children dying that could be saved for less than $1000 per life, I knew that had to be the top priority for my restitution. Hardly anyone funded work on diseases such as malaria, which then killed more than a million children a year. We’ve made progress, but it’s still 400,000 and we’re determined to get it to zero eventually.
On his favorite movies and TV shows from the past year:
“White Lotus” Season 2 was pretty good if I may say so. Congratulations to Jennifer Coolidge on her Golden Globe. The Bernie Madoff special was good too. Tehran was exciting. The last Avatar was good. My favorite entertainment experience was a Chris Rock/Dave Chappelle event recently.
About his longtime friendship with fellow bridge player Warren Buffett and his relationship with Berkshire Hathaway.
I had dinner with Warren on Sunday and he’s doing great at 93 years old! He is incredibly wise. I am no longer on the Berkshire board, but he still shares great advice with me and his generosity to all the Foundations he gives to, including the Gates Foundation, is incredible.
We still play some bridge, but not as much as before. He got me hooked on bridge and I play with some of his friends, including some tournaments.
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About his favorite band:
My favorite bands are U2 – I loved Bono’s recent bookand he is a good friend.
