Bill Gates
1 July, 2012
Reporter: Peter FitzSimons
Producer: Paul Waterhouse
He was the richest man in the world until he started giving it all away and Bill Gates is calling on wealthy Australians to do the same.
The formerly nerdy university dropout needs no introduction. He is the guy who founded Microsoft and built it into a $100 billion personal fortune.
Gates is now a man after every baby boomer’s heart. He is spending the kids' inheritance on good causes, including ridding the world of deadly diseases.
Inside his incredible $500 million charity city, Gates employs more than 1000 people, all of them on a mission to close the gap between the world's richest and poorest people.
Peter FitzSimons spoke with Gates just hours after anti-capitalist protestors stage riots in Seattle's business district.
He described the failure of those with large fortunes to direct wealth towards the most needy as a "missed opportunity".
"You know I've seen the power of innovation to create the personal computer, create the internet, and so the question becomes are we innovating for those who are in great need?" Gates said.
Gates said he was "stunned" to learn money was not being spent on a malaria vaccine.
"A million people a year dying yet we were spending more on a drug for male baldness, and so that misallocation is upsetting to me because I love innovation and I think it ought to benefit everyone," Gates said.
Gates is plotting to to eliminate polio, feed the world, and develop a vaccine for aids and malaria.
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