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1. Bill Gates is extremely competitive, he's a bulldog, he fights and wants to win against whatever. He built Microsoft into a Monopoly and is fighting hard (an

1. Bill Gates is extremely competitive, he's a bulldog, he fights and wants to win against whatever. He built Microsoft into a Monopoly and is fighting hard (and doing a great job) against diseases. 2. Bill Gates looks at problems logically, finds missing links, and solves those links. Whether that is refrigeration for vaccines, getting useful data for diseases, etc. 3. Bill Gates knows a ton about diseases, epidemics, etc. He's super curious and doesn't stop learning. Who could be more qualified for the job?

dave5104 7y ago
Maybe someone with a medical degree? Gates can certainly bring some unique skills to the table if he was invited, but it seems like we should have an actual doctor leading the charge.
- hoten 7y ago
  He'd obviously consult top doctors. Why would a doctor be better at organizing a large response than a proven business leader who pivoted to disease control?
- natalyarostova 7y ago
  Why? Being an MD isn't a huge deal in these cases. Not to say that having knowledge of the fundamentals of biology or healthcare isn't useful, but managing thousands of people, complex human systems, mass organizations, and building a plan to eliminate a disease is not something they teach in medical school. Gates has done more to battle malaria and other diseases than anyone currently alive. His track record is second to none, in terms of building a huge strategy, managing complex systems, and executing a pragmatic plan. And I suspect he has many MDs in his close circle of advisers who he relies on. A leader doesn't need to be a specialist -- they need to be a leader, a generalist, and rely on a team for specialist knowledge.
- kube-system 7y ago
  MDs are good at treating patients, but they're not necessarily good at leading people. Good leaders know how to draw on the expertise of others to organize a coordinated response... which the Gates Foundation has proved themselves very capable of doing, particularly with public health issues. The Gates Foundation employs lots of healthcare professionals. I'd highly suggest looking up some of the talks Gates has done about his work with his foundation. He definitely has his shit together.
  - cpascal 7y ago
    Spot on.
- ibaikov 7y ago
  It's always mostly about business/decision making, once you surround yourself with competent people who you can trust - you don't need to be a world-class expert.
- tuna-piano 7y ago
  Doctors are people who are trained and have experience diagnosing and treating individual patients. I'm not sure why those skills are necessary for fighting an epidemic? The person in charge of the epidemic will not be doing patient diagnosis and care. The person will be doing some aspects of: Logistics, managing a ton of people, political wrangling, PR/media relations, setting and achieving organizational goals. Of course some disease and medical knowledge will be required, but not being an MD doesn't seem relevant.
_jal 7y ago
I really despise the US habit of worshipping of the wealthy.
- scarejunba 7y ago
  I'm pretty sure Bill Gates is worshipped for more than his wealth. Growing up, he was the stereotypical wunderkind and people would say about smart kids "going to be the next Bill Gates". Come on, I was there to type in Microserf and M$ when Microsoft was fucking everyone with the SCO bullshit. That was infuriating, as was all the crap around FAT and NTFS. But you rarely find the combo of technologist and smart businessman. For all the crap he did, ultimately the Gates Foundation is awesome and it's set up in such a way that it doesn't last forever. All reasons to admire the fellow.
  - gbronner 7y ago
    I attended a party at his house with a group of interns. He was worshipped, but in the wrong way -- a number of people wanted to touch his clothing or get his autograph, and they were employees. I don't think he was ever comfortable with that, and this allows him and his wife to work on interesting problems without causing political problems for MSFT.
    - scarejunba 7y ago
      Haha, my man, I have to admit that is pretty weird. I don't imagine anyone would like that. Haha, it's like the pope or something.
      - gbronner 7y ago
        It was like they were touching Jesus. I was uncomfortable, and so was he.
  - blahsterr 7y ago
    honestly how the fuck is he a technologist? he dropped out of pre-law.....to buy and rebrand somebody else’s qdos then sell it to his buddies at ib-fucking-m. then followed a couple decades of patent lawsuits, ripping off mac os, ripping off netscape, and making illegal deals to push his operating system on everybody, thereby setting back the computer industry by at least a decade. am i missing something?

dave5104 7y ago

Maybe someone with a medical degree? Gates can certainly bring some unique skills to the table if he was invited, but it seems like we should have an actual doctor leading the charge.

hoten 7y ago
He'd obviously consult top doctors. Why would a doctor be better at organizing a large response than a proven business leader who pivoted to disease control?
natalyarostova 7y ago
Why? Being an MD isn't a huge deal in these cases. Not to say that having knowledge of the fundamentals of biology or healthcare isn't useful, but managing thousands of people, complex human systems, mass organizations, and building a plan to eliminate a disease is not something they teach in medical school. Gates has done more to battle malaria and other diseases than anyone currently alive. His track record is second to none, in terms of building a huge strategy, managing complex systems, and executing a pragmatic plan. And I suspect he has many MDs in his close circle of advisers who he relies on. A leader doesn't need to be a specialist -- they need to be a leader, a generalist, and rely on a team for specialist knowledge.
kube-system 7y ago
MDs are good at treating patients, but they're not necessarily good at leading people. Good leaders know how to draw on the expertise of others to organize a coordinated response... which the Gates Foundation has proved themselves very capable of doing, particularly with public health issues. The Gates Foundation employs lots of healthcare professionals. I'd highly suggest looking up some of the talks Gates has done about his work with his foundation. He definitely has his shit together.
- cpascal 7y ago
  Spot on.
ibaikov 7y ago
It's always mostly about business/decision making, once you surround yourself with competent people who you can trust - you don't need to be a world-class expert.
tuna-piano 7y ago
Doctors are people who are trained and have experience diagnosing and treating individual patients. I'm not sure why those skills are necessary for fighting an epidemic? The person in charge of the epidemic will not be doing patient diagnosis and care. The person will be doing some aspects of: Logistics, managing a ton of people, political wrangling, PR/media relations, setting and achieving organizational goals. Of course some disease and medical knowledge will be required, but not being an MD doesn't seem relevant.

_jal 7y ago

I really despise the US habit of worshipping of the wealthy.

scarejunba 7y ago
I'm pretty sure Bill Gates is worshipped for more than his wealth. Growing up, he was the stereotypical wunderkind and people would say about smart kids "going to be the next Bill Gates". Come on, I was there to type in Microserf and M$ when Microsoft was fucking everyone with the SCO bullshit. That was infuriating, as was all the crap around FAT and NTFS. But you rarely find the combo of technologist and smart businessman. For all the crap he did, ultimately the Gates Foundation is awesome and it's set up in such a way that it doesn't last forever. All reasons to admire the fellow.
- gbronner 7y ago
  I attended a party at his house with a group of interns. He was worshipped, but in the wrong way -- a number of people wanted to touch his clothing or get his autograph, and they were employees. I don't think he was ever comfortable with that, and this allows him and his wife to work on interesting problems without causing political problems for MSFT.
  - scarejunba 7y ago
    Haha, my man, I have to admit that is pretty weird. I don't imagine anyone would like that. Haha, it's like the pope or something.
    - gbronner 7y ago
      It was like they were touching Jesus. I was uncomfortable, and so was he.
- blahsterr 7y ago
  honestly how the fuck is he a technologist? he dropped out of pre-law.....to buy and rebrand somebody else’s qdos then sell it to his buddies at ib-fucking-m. then followed a couple decades of patent lawsuits, ripping off mac os, ripping off netscape, and making illegal deals to push his operating system on everybody, thereby setting back the computer industry by at least a decade. am i missing something?