Asked ‘if there are ethical billionaires’ Bill Gates replied bitterly

During the 11th Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on the recent Reddit forum, technology billionaire Bill Gates shared his views on wealth. The Microsoft founder also invited Reddit users to ask questions related to the Gates & Melinda Gates Foundation and what excites him in 2023.

Specifically, a Reddit user nicknamed “mspalandas” asked the Microsoft co-founder if there are ethical billionaires. In response, Bill Gates said being rich would easily make anyone obsolete.

“Rich will easily make you less sympathetic. But the incentive to start new companies is still a good thing. Even if taxes go up, I won’t ‘ban’ anyone from becoming a billionaire. It’s my own opinion,” Bill Gates replied.

Before that, in Ask Me Anything in 2019, Bill Gates also shared about wealth. He credits them for making him happier than the middle class.

“I don’t have to think about expenses. Getting rid of financial worries is really a good thing,” said Bill Gates. However, the Microsoft co-founder also affirmed: “Of course, you don’t need $1 billion to get there. We need to decelerate the cost of healthcare and education so that everyone can access it.”

At the recent AMA, Bill Gates said he took time to reflect on the most important thing when the new year begins. The good news is that this billionaire will become a grandfather this year.

“I think the rich should pay more taxes and give away some of their wealth,” the Microsoft founder said.

Last year, the philanthropist pledged to donate his fortune to the Gates Foundation. He founded The Giving Pledge with Warren Buffett and Melinda Gates in 2010 to encourage billionaires to give away most of their wealth.

“In the future, I plan to use all the money I have for charity. I will gradually leave the list of the richest billionaires in the world, “said Bill Gates.

According to Business Insider, Gates has long intended to give away his entire fortune. He did not even intend to leave an inheritance to his children.

“Leaving inheritance to children is not good. Future generations will not be motivated to work hard and contribute to society,” Gates said.

It is known that in July 2022, the Microsoft founder announced that he would donate $ 20 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This brings the total endowment to $70 billion, making it the largest charity in the world.

“We plan to increase our annual donation from $6 billion to $9 billion by 2026. To do that, I’ll be spending $20 billion starting this month to fund the foundation,” Gates said.

During the Q&A session, Bill Gates also received a question about buying too much agricultural land. Everyone assumed that Gates was working on a secret plan. However, this man dismissed all suspicions.

Gates said he owns less than a quarter of America’s farmland and that investing in agriculture is solely about creating jobs and increasing productivity.

“I own less than 1/4000 of America’s farmland. I invest in agricultural farms to increase productivity and create more jobs for people. There is no conspiracy. All of this was created by a professional investment team,” Bill Gates replied.

Previously, Bill Gates’ purchase of too much land forced federal prosecutors to intervene after the number of complaints from people increased.

“I received a lot of information from all over the state, not just the neighborhood. Many people are expressing their displeasure, while others are vague,” said Doug Goehring, North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner.

In response, Bill Gates claimed his “investment team” was behind the acquisitions and that they were involved in the development of seeds and biofuels.

“Agriculture is very important. With high-yielding seeds, we can limit deforestation and help Africa cope with the challenges of climate change. It’s not yet clear how cheap these biofuels are, but if they are, they could be used to tackle emissions from the aviation and trucking industries,” Gates said.

Last year, Land Report revealed that Bill Gates has built a huge farmland portfolio that spans 18 US states. Some large plots include land in Louisiana (28,000 hectares), Arkansas (19,000 hectares) and Nebraska (8,000 hectares). In addition, he has a stake in 11,000 hectares of converted land west of Phoenix (Arizona).