When Bill Gates Says…

A short post because I am bothered:

When Bill Gates (a man of both power and money and arguably large outsized influence) says the biggest mistake in his life is his divorce, at first blush you want to believe him and take him at his word and compliment him for his self-awareness. You want to think: Wow. He got hurt and he regrets damaging others.

But surface comments are deceptive.

Gates seems to be forgetting (or not disclosing) other mistakes that contributed to and impacted his life and those of others: he had an affair with someone in his workplace and approached more than one woman to engage extramaritally.

Wasn’t that affair and his womanizing a mistake? It harmed his wife, his children and his employees. Sure, he can say seeing Jeffrey Epstein was a mistake. But, when your actions like an affair, well within your control, contribute to damage to others near and far, own it.

Yes, the divorce was a “mistake.” But he didn’t seek it; his ex-wife did. Oops. He seems to forget that wee fact. It isn’t as if he was the mover and shaker on this front as best as we can tell from the reports and books and disclosures. And what undergirded his mistakes were other mistakes too.

Somehow, the brilliant, rich, powerful man ignores those bad acts for which we don’t sympathize.

Bill Gates thought he would get our sympathy in his interview for saying his divorce was a mistake. Instead, he gets my scorn (not that he or anyone else for that matter cares).