Author Questions Why Bill Gates’ Foundation Is So Secretive

‘THE BILL CHILL’

Author Tim Schwab discusses his investigation into the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Noah Kirsch

Wealth And Power Reporter

Updated Nov. 14, 2023 2:54PM EST / Published Nov. 14, 2023 1:26PM EST

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the world’s largest private charity, with more than 1,800 employees and a $67 billion endowment—larger than most countries’ GDPs.
The foundation frequently makes news for its work tackling poverty and public health crises, including initiatives to eradicate polio and help impoverished farmers deal with climate change.

On Tuesday, journalist Tim Schwab published a new book, The Bill Gates Problem, which argues that the charity doesn’t merit its high esteem. Rather, in Schwab’s view, the foundation is steered by the whims of its male founder, and though it operates at the scale of a nation state, it does so with limited transparency.

The Daily Beast:

Is there anything I didn't ask you about that you want to highlight from the book?

Tim Schwab: One thing that was surprising to me was this issue of taxes.

You know, we give billions of dollars in tax breaks to Bill and Melinda French Gates because they donate money to their private foundation.
At the same time, governments around the world are contributing billions of dollars to help support some of the Gates Foundation's largest charitable projects. These massive public-private partnerships do things like distribute vaccines and medicines to poor people.
So all of us taxpayers are really on the hook.
Bill Gates, in a sense, is spending our money.
And to me, that's a real trigger for accountability. If he's spending our money, we should have a say.