Bill Gates wants enough money to buy the “world’s best cheeseburger”. Not one coated in gold leaf, he notes in a new BBC interview, but one from the golden arches. Beyond that, he has few needs for his inordinate wealth, “virtually all” of which he is set to donate to his charitable foundation.
In the latest episode of the sporadically broadcast Amol Rajan Interviews series, the BBC’s increasingly ubiquitous presenter meets with the “face of American computing and capitalism” to discuss work, philanthropy and his views on everything from God to Donald Trump. Running at just under 45 minutes, it arguably provides more direct access to the mind of a billionaire than The Elon Musk Show — which suffered from the absence of its hero/anti-hero — and more rigorous questioning of its subject than HBO’s carefully curated Branson docu-series.
Getting some cursory biographical background out the way, Rajan wastes little time in broaching the big questions. Was Gates a bullying “tyrant” towards his staff? Did he unfairly undercut competition? Can philanthropy compound inequality? Is he a romantic? This shift between the personal and the professional, the conceptual and the everyday, keeps the discussion lively and a little unpredictable — for both viewer and interviewee.
Gates is hardly known for being an engaging raconteur and there’s little here that is revelatory. But his answers on matters of tech and charity are well considered, and there’s a commendable equanimity in how he negotiates awkward topics — such as his association with Jeffrey Epstein — and baiting questions about whether he’s a “white saviour” trying to assuage his guilt. It’s only when talk turns to his infidelity that the gates, as it were, close.
While Rajan deserves credit for refusing to pander to his guest, he may prove to be as divisive as his interlocutor. Sitting with one arm nonchalantly slung behind his seat, his slightly brash, familiar tone can often be as distracting as it is disarming.
★★★☆☆
On BBC2 on February 3 at 7.30pm and BBC iPlayer thereafter
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