Ever wonder what Bill Gates is up to these days? I mean, that guy who dropped out of college because he and a buddy had started the then-little-known Microsoft? Yeah, what happened to him?
Well, he became a dirty word to a lot of conservatives. I guess you know that. Then there was that time he quickly lost to world Champion Magnus Carlsen in a chess game billed as a match up of the world's two smartest people (I had to throw that in). Yeah, that guy -- what became of him?
This is the guy who in 2015 predicted a worldwide pandemic would hit -- and we wouldn't be ready for it. He was already unpopular by then. Don't know if that's why he didn't get much credit for that.
Smart kid, but he got envolved with trying to stop climate change and that's about when things really went south as far as his reputation was concerned. Being associated with the fight against climate change is not exactly the kind of thing that makes you popular.
So, the young kid -- not so young now -- started a company called Breakthrough Energies. It's just one of the things he has done since leaving Microsoft, but one of the most interesting. What, you've never heard of Breakthrough Energies? Here you know what Microsoft is, but have never heard of this other company he's also throwing his heart into?
Well, we'll just have to correct that. Repeat the words "Breakthrough Energies" ten times to make sure you got the words in your head, then go ten more times, adding "Bill Gates" each time, just to make sure you are making the association.
Word is, the reason Gates pushes climate change solutions is that he stands to make a profit, since he's invested in renewable energy companies. So, is this "Breakthrough Energies" just another way for him to turn a dime (or a couple billion of them)?
He started it in 2015 with a bunch of other people you probably wouldn't appreciate -- guys like Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, Richard Bransom, Mark Zuckerberg, Tom Steyer, and, uh, well, George Soros. Now you are really hating this company, right?
I don't guess they have board meetings, but if they did, I don't guess there would be a more powerful board room anywhere in the world.
Anyway, Gates invested $2 bil in the new venture. But, the idea wasn't to make money, it was to make change -- save the planet. That might not be an idea you're too thrilled with, but its what he and his buddies were up to. Go ahead and see a demon behind every curtain, but I'm betting it just isn't so.
Breakthrough Energies invests in the startup of companies to provide nuclear fusion, large-capacity batteries, and microbe-generated biofuels.
Well, there's the story of Bill Gates and Breakthrough Energies. Some of you will appreciate hearing it. For others, though, it just adds to the vocabulary of dirty words.
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