Billionaire, Nerd, Savior, King

Bill Gates and His Quest to Shape Our World

By: Anupreeta Das

Narrated by: Ulka Simone Mohanty

Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

From the finance editor of The New York Times, an examination of Bill Gates—one of the most powerful, fascinating, and contradictory figures of the past four decades—and an eye-opening exploration of our national fixation on billionaires.

Few billionaires have been in the public eye for as long, and in as many guises, as Bill Gates. At first heralded as a tech visionary, the Microsoft cofounder next morphed into a ruthless capitalist, only to change yet again when he fashioned himself into a global do-gooder. Along the way, Gates forever influenced how we think about tech founders, as the products they make and the ideas they sell continue to dominate our lives. Through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, he also set a new standard for high-profile, billionaire philanthropy. But there is more to Gates’s story, and here, Das’s revelatory reporting shows us that billionaires have secrets and philanthropy can have a dark side.

Drawing upon hundreds of interviews with current and former employees of the Gates Foundation, Microsoft, academics, nonprofits, and those with insight into the Gates universe, Das delves into Gates’s relationships with Warren Buffett, Jeffrey Epstein, Melinda French Gates, and others, to uncover the truths behind the public persona. In telling Gates’s story, Das also provides a new way to think about how billionaires wield their power, manipulate their image, and pursue philanthropy to become heroes, repair damaged reputations, and direct policy to achieve their preferred outcomes.

Insightful, illuminating, and timely, Billionaire, Nerd, Savior, King is an important story of money and government, wealth and power, and media and image, and the ways in which the world’s richest people hold us in their thrall.

©2024 Anupreeta Das (P)2024 Simon & Schuster Audio

Mostly about Billionaires and Philanthropy

It was mostly about Billionaires, Bill Gates, His Ex Wife, their divorce and philanthropy. I was expecting more on his younger life and growing up and starting the company.

It’s well researched but uninspired.

This is essentially a compilation of everything on the public record about Gates. Which is interesting. But, as a story, it is a pretty dry piece of bread to get down. It’s not so much a biography—which I was expecting—as a recitation of facts. Hard to know what to think about Gates when it ends.

Nauseating, literally.

Nauseating bit@&!/$ about privilege, race, gender, all the typical BS you’d expect nowadays. Irrational and emotional.

More Woke Crap

How to demonize BG for being a successful business person even though he is committed giving away all his money to charity.

Horrible and biased

Seems like the author started with a conclusion and then looked for stuff to back up her awful takes.
Despite that it also all lacks cohesion and does not go smoothly. Do not recommend.

Ai shit voice Good book

Read by hot garbage put together by monkeys ai voice this book has powerful words that I enjoyed listening to for three chapters I could stand the cheap put together by monkeys simulation of a human being reading it

Incredibly boring and meandering

I keep forgetting this book is supposed to be about Bill Gates as it goes on long tangents about other topics and then tries to loosely tie it back to him. I thought the writing would be better coming from a New York Times journalist. it isn't even like a good gossip magazine, but a weird amalgamation of opinions and rants.