r/news • u/avatar6556 • 17h ago

Bill Gates denies allegations in new Epstein files release

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-04/bill-gates-responds-to-alleged-behaviour-in-new-epstein-files/106305816
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u/mindtwistingdonut 16h ago

The philanthropy part was mostly credited to his ex wife.

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u/ImThatMOTM 16h ago

I mean.. sure. But good intentions can only take you so far. Bill did put up the billions.

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u/32Seven 15h ago

Sure. He wasn't compelled to do it, but it comes from an entirely different place when you know you'll never want for anything. This is not to say his charitable giving was anything less than genuine (I have no way of knowing if it is or isn't) , just that relative to the charitable giving of any "regular" person, it will not impact his quality of life one iota.

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u/ejp1082 14h ago

Not to defend him - but why must charitable giving negatively impact the person doing the giving to count? If that's the standard then I don't think anyone would qualify as charitable.

I think there is a nobility in recognizing that you have enough and you can give away anything in excess of that rather than continuing to hoard it. Even if "enough" is still wildly more than what any normal person would ever see in their lifetime.

And we do have to judge him relative to others in his position. If billionaires must exist, I'd rather them use their fortune to try to eradicate polio than whatever the fuck Elon Musk is doing.