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Discourse: 'You could choose to spend this money on yourself'
Bill Gates
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Bill Gates. JP/Jerry Adiguna
Philanthropist, billionaire and Microsoft founder Bill Gates was briefly in Jakarta on Saturday to oversee and give donations for the Indonesia Health Fund. Prior to his departure, Gates gave an interview to a limited number of Indonesian press outlets, including The Jakarta Post, to talk about his passion for philanthropy and his own personal goals.
Question: Your mother was an influence in your philanthropy. Is it possible for mothers in the developing world to also forward the same vision of generosity?
Answer: Certainly, my family being an example of philanthropy was very important. So, if you want to make it widespread, we need parents to teach their children.
No matter what the level of wealth, whether it's just a tiny amount of money or a few hours of volunteer time, that habit I think is a good habit, and it makes you learn about things you wouldn't otherwise know.
Do you believe that philanthropy should include conditions for its recipients, such as moral or political conditions; the way in which foreign aid was linked in the past to, for example, democratization?
Aid is super important, and I'm a big supporter of foreign aid. In terms of conditions, you know, philanthropy is voluntary. You could choose to spend this money on yourself, buying mansions, or you could choose to give it [away].
There is a complex issue of whether you want to send aid through a government that's doing something wrong, but no government is perfect; and so the question is, when should we cut off aid and when should we not?
A lot of what we do in countries goes through the government. So, if you know that your intervention is getting to the children in need, then you should be at least a little reluctant to cut it off, because the group that will suffer the most is the children that need those vaccines. In some extreme case, you probably would cut it off, but it's not an easy decision.
You have given more than US$28 billion to philanthropic causes. Are you planning to give more?
Virtually all the money my wife and I have. Over 95 percent will go to the Gates Foundation, so the Gates Foundation will have the opportunity to give a lot more money. We're now giving about $4 billion a year and so we've been able to grow.
You talk about the need for medicines and vaccines for the poor. Yet, when we look at the resources available in the world and the advancement of technology, is it more a case of unequal distribution or a lack of resources?
We need huge incentives for drug companies to invent new drugs and vaccines. They need to see that as a very profitable thing, because it's very risky: The trials are very expensive and we demand super-high quality. So it requires incredible skill that only these companies can provide.
The idea was that the richer people would pay a higher price, middle-income people would pay a medium price and the poor would pay nothing. That's called tiered pricing.
So, when new medicines are introduced, they won't be available in poor countries for around 20 years. Recently, the world has been doing better; within about five years of the rich kids getting a medicine, it has started to flow into poor countries. It should, however, be zero years, so there's still a lot to do.
I think the world is getting better at striking the right balance between innovation and having equal access to life-saving tools.
Are you surprised by the participation from businesspeople in Indonesia for the Indonesia Health Fund?
I'm pleased. In many countries, the very wealthy don't have the time to learn about the causes that help those most in need. And so, to assemble this group and get them involved in offering health measures in Indonesia, I think that's amazing. It's fantastic.
With all that you've already achieved, what are your priorities and goals in life now?
Having my kids be happy!
I'm very lucky that I get to work on multiple things. I have my family life and my kids are growing up, they're 17, 15 and 11. We're about to go on vacation starting Monday to this part of the world so we can relax.
In terms of work, yes, the foundation is my primary work and will be for the rest of my life. I'm giving some advice to Microsoft because there is an energetic new CEO who wants to make some changes, but that's a part-time thing.
I also do some investments and things like energy innovation, which does not overlap with the foundation because that's a for-profit thing; namely investing in green, CO2-free types of energy, including some that are controversial like nuclear energy, some types of batteries and solar power. That's all a huge part of my time because I enjoy science and because I believe [energy innovation] is an important issue.
But by far, if you put aside the personal stuff, the foundation is plenty fulfilling. I get to learn many new things and I get to go to interesting places. I was recently in Yogyakarta, looking at a dengue project there. I just wish there was more time in the day.
My goals would also be the goals of the foundation. Five percent of children die before the age of 5. By the time I die, that should be less than 2 percent! I wish it could be zero percent; it's not realistic.
So, most of my goals are concerned with whenever we get an innovation, and we're going to get a lot, do we also make them help those most in need? Do the poor children of Indonesia get access to these new vaccines? Because I'm such a believer in innovation, a lot of my goals are contained in the excellence of the foundation and its
ambitious goals.
