It’s not every day that a Microsoft founder makes his way to Australia, but Bill Gates has arrived in Sydney for a month’s holiday and has already started speaking his mind on the carbon tax, software and his relationship with Apple founder Steve Jobs.
In a number of interviews with Fairfax, The Australian and the ABC, Gates has revealed just how much work is going into his foundation – dedicated to eradicating disease in impoverished countries – and where new opportunities for innovation can be found.
He may not be Microsoft’s chief anymore, but he’s certainly got his hands full. Here are five nuggets of wisdom from the technology giant:
Gates hasn’t been in charge of day-to-day operations at Microsoft for a long time, but it’s clear that he’s not coming back – despite a Forbes report earlier this month suggesting he may do so. He told the SMH yesterday his foundation now requires most of his time.
“I’m part-time involved with Microsoft, including even being in touch this week to give some of my advice but that’s not going to change – the foundation requires all of my energy and we feel we’re having a great impact,” he said.
It was never really assumed that Gates would take up the Microsoft helm again, but it appears he’s definitely ruled it out for good.
Gates and Apple founder Steve Jobs always had a tumultuous relationship. Despite the two working together in the early days on software for the Mac, they always had differing views on taste and Jobs would mercilessly rip Microsoft apart for what he believed were poor design choices.
But it’s all in the past. Gates says Jobs was a “brilliant” designer – but also says he may have been slightly upset by the fact Microsoft sold more machines.
“Our work at Microsoft was super successful for all good reasons but Steve made huge contributions and he actually in his last few years was a lot kinder than that but over the years he did say some tough things.”
Dick Smith has been the voice for Australian philanthropy in the past, but it appears he has another supporter. Gates told the ABC that he encourages the growth of giving here and that more of the nation’s richest should dig deep.
“You know, you want people at all parts of society to feel like they can give back, whether it’s volunteering their time, their voice or some financial resources.”
“It helps if those who are the most successful, some reasonable percentage of them are setting an example. And so everyone that joins I think will encourage more to join in with that, and certainly our foundation is very willing to talk about what’s work and what’s not work.”
He also said that if a meeting were to occur with other Australian billionaires regarding the subject of philanthropy – he may even attend.
“If somebody was organising a meeting that was gonna get a number of those people come, I’d be glad to join in and share my experiences. I don’t know the people so I won’t organise it myself, but, yes, that’s – willingness to participate in a meeting like that is something I enjoy a lot.”
Despite a significant amount of debate regarding the carbon tax, Gates seems to be on board – in fact, he says he wants the world at large to come to an agreement sooner rather than later.
“A carbon tax is a very important tool to encourage the invention of low-cost energy technologies that don’t emit carbon. And to help that happen, a carbon tax is really a key piece.”
“You want fund basic research so that the science is there and then you want companies thinking, whether it’s solar or nuclear or wind. I wish the United States was stronger on the taxation piece, but I will say that it is funding research more than any other country in the world.”
Although companies like Microsoft and Apple are doing plenty of research on their own, Gates says there are other areas that are completely untapped, and could lead the way for other companies and innovators to make progress on their own.
And, it’s only now, with the internet changing so much of how we do things, that people see, “Wow, this digital revolution’s a big deal.” There’s still more to be done there – education, health, many areas are not yet revolutionised.
“And so as I focus now on the poorest and their needs, I can tap into the same kind of innovation, brilliant scientists, people who work in the field, and I can say that, hey, in 10 years we can reduce malaria by half.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
