
Bill Gates: I met with Epstein because “he knows a lot of rich people” - AndrewBissell
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/10/bill-gates-met-with-jeffrey-epstein-to-connect-with-rich-people.html
======
spamizbad
I sometimes worry that the world of elite money has something akin to a
secular version of "The Family"[1] that essentially uses the "King David"
excuse on people like Epstein.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fellowship_(Christian_orga...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fellowship_\(Christian_organization\))
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Family:_The_Secret_Fundame...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Family:_The_Secret_Fundamentalism_at_the_Heart_of_American_Power)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Family_(miniseries)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Family_\(miniseries\))

~~~
r00fus
Why not a strong overlap?

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Pils
The simplest answer to me is the rampant normalization of celebrity sexual
misconduct, especially the more philanthropically-oriented. The tipping point
for Bill Cosby wasn't a criminal investigation or tell-all, just Hannibal
Burress offhandedly mentioning the (decade old?) claims in a set.

It's confusing to me that we see Bill Gates as a particularly exceptional
member of the philanthropic class outside of his extreme wealth. Perhaps the
increasing popularity of "Effective Altruism"/Peter Singer's ideas, which
align fairly well with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's work. Perhaps
it was his ability to avoid scandal.

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TheMagicHorsey
In this thread, and across the press, there's this ridiculous guilt by
association epidemic going around.

So now, if I met Epstein one time at MIT, without knowing his crimes, I'm a
pedophile too?

What exactly is Gates being accused of here? Just come out and say it? You
guys want him to be a pedophile too so you can tear him down? Gates has done
so much good for the world.

If Gates is found to have done something wrong, I'll be the first to call him
a scumbag.

Till then, stop hating on him.

~~~
zaphod4prez
Epstein was convicted of soliciting a prostitute and of procuring an underage
girl for prostitution in 2008 [see his wikipedia
page]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Epstein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Epstein)).
There were rumors about him well before that

Bill Gates met with him in 2013. Why did Gates decide to meet with a convicted
sex offender and pedophile? I think that, for powerful people, "not setting up
meetings with sex offenders" is actually a pretty easy and straightforward
ethical bar.

~~~
seanmcdirmid
Not everyone is clued into rumors or googling everyone they meet.

~~~
ryacko
Did you just dismissively state that high society is above gossip?

~~~
seanmcdirmid
Existentially quantified, no. Universally quantified, yes. (Key: “not
everyone”)

Bill Gates is not really typical high society anyways.

------
treggle
It appears that in the case of Epstein, anyone who knew the criminal is judged
by the media as also guilty.

Seems weird and wrong ...

~~~
zaphod4prez
Epstein was convicted of soliciting a prostitute and of procuring an underage
girl for prostitution in 2008 [see his wikipedia
page]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Epstein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Epstein)).
Gates met with him in 2013.

No one's saying that meeting with Epstein was illegal, but I think that most
people would avoid schmoozing with convicted pedophile sex offenders. When
someone as powerful as Gates meets with someone and helps facilitate donations
through them, that supports that person. Why did Gates choose to associate
with and support a convicted sex offender and pedophile?

I think these are very very reasonable questions to ask

~~~
seanmcdirmid
> Why did Gates choose to associate with and support a convicted sex offender
> and pedophile?

Do we know Gates was aware of it? If not, do we expect him or his entourage to
background check (or at least google) everyone he is going to meet? If yes,
then I guess I would want to know as well.

------
baron_harkonnen
>There were people around him who were saying, hey, if you want to raise money
for global health and get more philanthropy, he knows a lot of rich people.

I like the impression of a clueless Bill Gates with 100 Billion dollars in his
hand and having lead one of the most powerful businesses of last century,
completely unsure of how to get in touch with other rich people. "Gee Jeffrey,
do you think you could help me make some more rich friends to help with good
deeds?"

I also feel like that sentence was a bit truncated "he knows a lot of rich
people... because he runs a sex island where influential people can get and do
anything they want."

~~~
AndrewBissell
Gates's excuses and self-contradictory statements around Epstein have been
hilariously bad.

------
smacktoward
Any story that details tech bigwigs having connections with Jeffrey Epstein
gets flagged down here almost instantly. Which is too bad, the sheer volume of
these connections indicates there's a conversation to be had here.

~~~
kjeetgill
I think it might be a reaction to either a) what amounts to the same story
with a different name over and over or a reaction to b) a number of stories
that seemed to be out for blood against tech.

Epstein had connections to rich and powerful people in tech... And
entertainment, and politics, and really all industry.

I think it's just a hard story to keep up with. Too many connections without
enough investigation to if those connections are tied to his crimes (yet).

------
speedplane
Taking money from a pedophile, going into business with one, endorsing one,
securing favors from one, or receiving praise from one is pretty bad. Just
meeting one seems significantly less. Not clear what Gates actually did.

------
PavlovsCat
> Gates did not immediately respond to questions, submitted through a
> foundation representative, about why he would need Epstein's help connecting
> with wealthy people and whether it is typical for his business meetings to
> include no women.

That was my first thought too: Sir Bill Gates is known by just about anyone in
the world, certainly all rich people. He doesn't know them, yet, but of all
people in the world, I would expect him to be the last to need someone like
Epstein to introduce him.

~~~
AndrewBissell
Why does he even need to ask around for an extra $2 million in the first
place? I mean, I get that not all of his $100 billion fortune is entirely
liquid at any point in time, but surely this should be doable in pretty short
order?

~~~
smacktoward
The point is for him to position himself not just as a guy with a fat
checkbook, but as a _macher_ (see [https://jel.jewish-
languages.org/words/325](https://jel.jewish-languages.org/words/325)) -- a guy
who can make connections, put people together. "I don't think your project is
a good fit for my foundation, but let me introduce you to my friend Jeffrey
and these four other rich guys who fund projects like yours all the time." So
now you still owe him a favor, but without him having to spend a penny.

------
Barrin92
Okay, so how does this make any sense?

> _" He never donated any money to anything that I know about.”[...]

>Following the 2013 meeting between the two men, Epstein arranged for a $2
million donation from Gates to the MIT Media Lab, according to a report in The
New Yorker. A spokesperson for Gates said in a statement provided to the
Journal that “any claim that Epstein directed any programmatic or personal
grantmaking for Bill Gates is completely false.”_

So 5 years after Epstein is officially convicted of soliciting underaged
prostitutes Bill Gates pretends as if he doesn't know who Epstein is, and
somehow seems clueless of any donations despite having Epstein arrange a 2
million dollar donation, while also being one of the richest and most well
connected people on the planet? These people cannot be serious.

