Jul 29, 2024 10:41 AM IST
Melinda French Gates announced in May that she is stepping down from her role as cochair of the Gates Foundation.
Melinda French Gates slammed the new generation of billionaires like Tesla CEO Elon Musk and PayPal founder Peter Thiel use their “megaphones” instead of their bank accounts to bring change in the world. Talking to The New York Times, Bill Gates’ former wife said that the new generation of “billionaire activists” like Elon Musk, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and Peter Thiel are not doing enough.
She said, “Well, the people you just named have not been very philanthropic yet. They use their voice and they use their megaphones, but I would not call those men philanthropists.”
The comments come as Melinda French Gates announced in May that she is stepping down from her role as cochair of the Gates Foundation while she remains committed to “people and organizations working on behalf of women and families around the world, including on reproductive rights in the United States.”
She also criticised Elon Musk’s criticism of her political activism and called it “silly” after the Tesla boss said that her decision to endorse Joe Biden in the 2024 election “might be the downfall of western civilization.”
Melinda French Gates said she thinks tech CEOs frequently give advice on things with which they are not experts.
“I’ve just watched over the years tech leaders interviewed about their parenting style. A male who has spent, you know, 60 hours at his company that week, and I’m sure he’s a fantastic CEO and has done a great job. But then they get asked about parenting, and they spew all this stuff, and you think, something doesn’t add up here, so just — some of these comments to me are just kind of silly,” she said.
She added, “I knew I had to speak out in favor of women’s rights, and if there was a candidate who is against women’s rights and says terrible things about women, there is no way I could vote for that person.”