Editing Bill Gates (section)

=== Public image ===
[[File:170217-D-GO396-0147 (32577063650).jpg|thumb|right|Gates with U.S. Secretary of Defense [[Jim Mattis]], February 2017|alt=]]

Gates's public image has changed over the years. At first he was perceived as a brilliant but ruthless "robber baron", a "[[nerd]]-turned-tycoon".<ref name="Carr-2021">{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-21/bill-gates-s-carefully-curated-dad-geek-image-unravels-in-two-weeks|title=Bill Gates's Carefully Curated Geek Image Unravels in Two Weeks|last=Carr|first=Austin|date=May 21, 2021|work=Bloomberg News|access-date=July 25, 2021|archive-date=July 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723023357/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-21/bill-gates-s-carefully-curated-dad-geek-image-unravels-in-two-weeks|url-status=live}}</ref> Starting in 2000 with the foundation of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and particularly after he stepped down as head of Microsoft, he turned his attention to philanthropy, spending more than $50 billion on causes like health, poverty, and education. His image morphed from "tyrannical technocrat to saintly savior" to a "huggable billionaire techno-philanthropist", celebrated on magazine covers and sought after for his opinions on major issues like global health and climate change.<ref name="Carr-2021" /> Still another shift in public opinion came in 2021 with the announcement that he and Melinda were divorcing. Coverage of that proceeding brought out information about romantic pursuits of women who worked for him, a long-term extra-marital affair, and a friendship with convicted sex offender [[Jeffrey Epstein]].<ref name="Flitter">{{Cite news |last1=Flitter |first1=Emily |last2=Goldstein |first2=Matthew |date=May 16, 2021 |title=Long Before Divorce, Bill Gates Had Reputation for Questionable Behavior |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/16/business/bill-melinda-gates-divorce-epstein.html |url-access=limited |access-date=May 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/16/business/bill-melinda-gates-divorce-epstein.html |archive-date=December 28, 2021 |issn=0362-4331}}{{cbignore}}</ref> This information and his response to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in some deterioration of his public image, going from "a lovable nerd who was out to save the world" to "a tech supervillain who wants to protect profits over public health".<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Shephard|first1=Alex|date=June 4, 2021|title=Oligarch of the Month: Bill Gates|magazine=The New Republic|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/162598/bill-gates-oligarch-month-vaccines|access-date=July 23, 2021|issn=0028-6583|archive-date=July 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723014014/https://newrepublic.com/article/162598/bill-gates-oligarch-month-vaccines|url-status=live}}</ref>

Investigative journalist Tim Schwab has accused Gates of using his contributions to the media to shape their coverage of him in order to protect his public image.<ref name="Schwab-2020" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=November 2021 |title=Billionaire Bill Gates Uses Money to Shape the Media |url=https://jacobinmag.com/2021/11/bill-gates-foundation-jeffrey-epstein-divorce-journalism |access-date=May 19, 2022 |website=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |language=en-US |archive-date=November 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127212352/https://jacobinmag.com/2021/11/bill-gates-foundation-jeffrey-epstein-divorce-journalism |url-status=live }}</ref> In September 2022, ''[[Politico]]'' published an exposé critical of NGO leadership at the helm of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic response, written in cooperation with the German newspaper ''[[Die Welt]]''. Criticisms included the interconnectivity of the non-profits with Gates, as well as his personal lack of formal credentials in medicine.<ref>{{cite web |title=How Bill Gates and partners used their clout to control the global Covid response — with little oversight |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/14/global-covid-pandemic-response-bill-gates-partners-00053969 |website=Politico |date=September 14, 2022 |access-date=October 16, 2022 |archive-date=October 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221017030424/https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/14/global-covid-pandemic-response-bill-gates-partners-00053969 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Gates and the projects of his foundation have been the subject of many conspiracy theories that proliferate on Facebook and elsewhere. He has been implausibly accused of attempting to depopulate the world, distributing harmful or unethical vaccines, and implanting people with privacy-violating microchips. These unfounded theories reached a new level of influence during the COVID-19 pandemic when, according to ''New York Times'' journalist Rory Smith, the uncertainties of pandemic life drove people to seek explanations from the Internet.<ref>{{Citation |last=Wakefield |first=Jane |title=How Bill Gates became the voodoo doll of Covid conspiracies |date=June 6, 2020 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52833706 |work=[[BBC]] |access-date=November 7, 2022 |archive-date=November 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221107090650/https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52833706 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last1=Wakabayashi |first1=Daisuke |title=Bill Gates, at Odds With Trump on Virus, Becomes a Right-Wing Target |date=April 17, 2020 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/17/technology/bill-gates-virus-conspiracy-theories.html |access-date=November 7, 2022 |last2=Alba |first2=Davey |last3=Tracy |first3=Marc |work=The New York Times |author-link2=Davey Alba |author-link3=Marc Tracy |archive-date=December 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209234759/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/17/technology/bill-gates-virus-conspiracy-theories.html |url-status=live }}</ref> When asked about the theories, Gates has remarked that some people are tempted by the "simple explanation" that an evil person rather than biological factors are to blame, and that he does not know for what purpose anyone believes he would want to track them with microchips.<ref>{{citation |last=Gates |first=Bill |title=Bill Gates' message to Covid-19 conspiracy theorists |date=July 24, 2020 |url=https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2020/07/24/bill-gates-conspiracy-theories-coronavirus-covid-19-social-media-town-hall-vpx.cnnbusiness |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=November 7, 2022 |interviewer=[[Anderson Cooper]] |archive-date=October 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221017024649/https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2020/07/24/bill-gates-conspiracy-theories-coronavirus-covid-19-social-media-town-hall-vpx.cnnbusiness |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sandler |first=Rachel |title=Bill Gates Explains Why He Doesn't Own Any Cryptocurrency |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2022/05/19/bill-gates-explains-why-he-doesnt-own-any-cryptocurrency/ |access-date=November 12, 2022 |website=Forbes |language=en |archive-date=November 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112135759/https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2022/05/19/bill-gates-explains-why-he-doesnt-own-any-cryptocurrency/ |url-status=live }}</ref>