LONDON: Bill Gates has stated an Elon Musk-owned Twitter “could be worse” and that assembly the late convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein was a mistake.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the Microsoft co-founder additionally stated he maintains “a sense of humour” in regards to the conspiracy theories which have led to folks shouting at him on the road.
Gates, whose large donations to Covid-19 analysis have made him a goal of weird claims, stated: “In some ways, you almost have to laugh because it’s so crazy.
“I mean, do I really want to track people? I spend billions on vaccines, I don’t make money on vaccines; vaccines save lives, they don’t cause deaths.
“So I’ve been out in public and some people yell at me that I’m tracking them, and that’s an awful thing.”
Asked about whether or not such unfounded theories may flourish on Twitter after Musk’s deliberate purchase of the social media platform, Gates stated: “I guess it’s possible Twitter could be worse, but it also could be better.”
The tech pioneer stated there isn’t any want for his fellow billionaire, who has tweeted insults about him, “to be nice” to him.
Gates has been succeeded by Musk because the world’s richest individual.
In response to Musk’s claims that he has guess towards Tesla inventory, Gates stated it had “nothing to do with climate change”.
“The popularity of electric cars will lead to more competition for selling those cars, so there’s a difference between electric cars being adopted, and companies becoming infinitely valuable,” he stated.
Gates additionally stated his divorce from Melinda French Gates wouldn’t have an effect on the working of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest charitable basis.
The pair introduced they had been ending their 27-year marriage final 12 months.
French Gates has beforehand stated she knew the late US financier Jeffrey Epstein was “evil” and questioned why her ex-husband had conferences with him.
Gates stated: “I made a mistake ever meeting with Jeffrey Epstein, you know, maybe her instincts on that were keener than mine.
“Any meeting I had with him could be viewed as almost condoning his evil behaviour, so that was a mistake.”
Gates additionally stated he wouldn’t observe fellow billionaires Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson into house and urged others to donate their wealth to charity.
“That’s not my dream. My dream is first to get polio eradicated and then dive right back in and go after malaria,” he stated.
“I’m going to encourage others who have been wildly successful like I’ve been to give back (to) the right causes, I think philanthropy can achieve a lot.”
Gates, whose new guide, How To Prevent The Next Pandemic, has simply been printed, stated the world will be “digging (its) way out” of the pandemic “for decades to come”.
The philanthropist additionally warned: “It’s very unlikely that we’ll go 20 more years without another outbreak that has a chance of becoming a global pandemic.” – dpa
