When asked to describe Bill Gates, many people would start with the obvious: He’s one of the richest men in the world—with a net worth of around $130 billion—and has been for decades, becoming almost synonymous with the top of the list of world’s wealthiest individuals. For many, he serves as the epitome of the tech billionaire and global titan, interchangeable as a generic version of the impossibly wealthy global elite—yet that generalization is far wide of the mark.
Those who are slightly better informed would no doubt speak about his foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the largest and most impactful philanthropic organizations the world has ever seen. With core priorities and grant-making areas (Global Health, Global Development, Global Growth and Opportunity, Global Policy and Advocacy, Gender Equality, and U.S. Program), hardly a week goes by that the foundation isn’t in the
