Listen to a sample
The Bill Gates Problem
- Author
- Tim Schwab
- Narrator
- Tim Schwab
- Publisher
- Penguin Books Ltd
- Publish Date
- 16 November 2023
- Run Time
- 15 hours 55 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
Not available in your country
We don't have the rights to sell this audiobook where you are. If it's already in your library you can still listen to it in My Books.
What to expect
Brought to you by Penguin.
You know him as the founder of Microsoft; the philanthropic, kind-hearted billionaire who has donated endless funds to good causes around the world. But there's another side to Bill Gates.
We might like to think of the Gates Foundation as an innocent charity giving away money, collaborating with stakeholders, and listening to the desires of the populations it hopes to help, but that's simply not how it works in practice. The charity internally sets a policy agenda for how to fix the world - based on one man's worldview - then imposes this vision onto the developing world by funding groups that align with it.
Combining rich storytelling and ground-breaking reporting, The Good Billionaire offers readers a provocative and timely counter-narrative about one of the world's most widely recognized individuals - a true global celebrity with a truly global audience. But more than that, this book speaks to a vital political question around economic inequality and the erosion of democratic institutions - why should the super-rich be able to transform their wealth into political power, and just how far can they go?
©2023 Tim Schwab (P)2023 Penguin Audio
Critics Review
-
Schwab makes a strong case, based on years of reporting, that under the direction of a humbler man the Gates Foundation would probably be a more effective force for good.
The New York Times
-
A tale of frustration and even rage at the culture of secrecy and often incompetence inside Gates’s philanthropic world, it is also strangely heartening.
New Statesman
-
Schwab's excellent exposé of hyper-billionaire ‘myths’ could yet help to catalyse political murmurations towards...more collective ends.
Nature
-
Tim Schwab has written the definitive critique of Bill Gates as bully-philanthropist. Schwab uses the case of Gates to tell a compelling and carefully researched story that raises disturbing questions about the lack of accountability of power-philanthropy.
Robert Kuttner, co-founder and co-editor, The American Prospect
See more reviews See fewer reviews
-
In this incisive and penetrating book, Schwab dares to confront a question society has long ignored: should a secretive, unaccountable billionaire dictate policy in public health, education, and science? Fearlessly rendered and much-needed.
Sonia Shah, author of The Next Great Migration
-
This is not the story of one bad man, so much as a demonstration of the inability for anyone-no matter how smart or rich-to solve the world's problems from the top down with money and technology.
Douglas Rushkoff, author of Survival of the Richest
-
An extraordinary and detailed work of investigative journalism into an underexplored nexus of influence in global affairs.
The Telegraph
-
Tim Schwab follows the money to expose what happens when one man-however intelligent or well-intentioned-amasses so much wealth and so much power, he can literally dictate to governments around the world. With great skill-and given the range of Bill Gates's influence, considerable courage-Schwab pulls back the curtain to deliver a classic of muckraking journalism.
D. D. Guttenplan, editor, The Nation
-
Read it and learn the brutal truth: there is nothing altruistic about the world’s favorite billionaire.
Thomas Frank, author of What's the Matter with Kansas
-
Investigative journalism with a fierce polemical edge … Nobody who comes away from reading The Bill Gates Problem will look at him in the same way.
The Times
User Reviews
No reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- Tim Schwab
- Narrator
- Tim Schwab
- Duration
- 15 hours 55 minutes
- Release Date
- 16 November 2023
- ISBN
- 9780241998250
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Penguin Books Ltd
- Genre
- Business ethics and social responsibility, Charities, voluntary services and philanthropy, Development studies, Political structures: democracy, International business, Biography: business and industry
Synopsis
Brought to you by Penguin.You know him as the founder of Microsoft; the philanthropic, kind-hearted billionaire who has donated endless funds to good causes around the world. But there's another side to Bill Gates.We might like to think of the Gates Foundation as an innocent charity giving away money, collaborating with stakeholders, and listening to the desires of the populations it hopes to help, but that's simply not how it works in practice. The charity internally sets a policy agenda for how to fix the world - based on one man's worldview - then imposes this vision onto the developing world by funding groups that align with it.Combining rich storytelling and ground-breaking reporting, The Good Billionaire offers readers a provocative and timely counter-narrative about one of the world's most widely recognized individuals - a true global celebrity with a truly global audience. But more than that, this book speaks to a vital political question around economic inequality and the erosion of democratic institutions - why should the super-rich be able to transform their wealth into political power, and just how far can they go?©2023 Tim Schwab (P)2023 Penguin Audio
About xigxag
xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK's only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.
There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at $13.95. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from $7.95. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.
Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.
Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.