Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and the Gates Foundation, whose fortune is estimated at 160 billion USD, has revealed some details about his three-hour dinner with President-elect Donald Trump.
Gates told the Wall Street Journal that the “wide-ranging” conversation, which was also attended by Elon Musk, included a discussion of public health issues. The Gates Foundation specializes in global health, among other charitable causes.
According to the tech mogul, Trump was “excited” by the fast-tracking of an HIV cure, in a similar way that COVID-19 vaccines were expedited during the pandemic.
Gates was also “impressed” Trump's interest in addressing other global health issues, such as polio.
In his farewell address on Wednesday, outgoing President Joe Biden warned of a "tech-industrial complex" and an "oligarchy" of powerful elites that are exerting increasing influence over society.
He was likely referring to the group of tech billionaires around Trump who appear to have increasing influence over matters traditionally left to the state.
Musk recently negotiated an international prisoner exchange. He and his tech colleague Vivek Ramaswamy head Trump's unofficial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Mark Zuckerberg has changed Facebook's fact-checking policy and also announced last year that he is a libertarian, a move that appears to have appeased Trump.
Gates may seem different from other tech oligarchs, as he has been described as a "good kind of rich guy" who donates billions to worthy causes. However, his interest in having a seat at the table of Trump and other tech moguls may be as selfish as the others.
A piece in The Nation has leveled a barrage of criticism at Gates, arguing that he established himself as an oligarch in philanthropy, technology and journalism decades ago.