與比爾?蓋茨共進午餐

我坐在酒吧的凳子上，金屬圓桌對面坐的是世界第二富比爾?蓋茨，他一邊喝著健怡可樂(Diet Coke)、拿手抓著薯條吃，一邊向我介紹著脊髓灰質炎疫苗(polio vaccine)的來龍去脈。如果比爾?蓋茨不再到處捐贈他的財富，他仍將是世界首富。在給比爾和梅琳達?蓋茨基金會(Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation，主要資助衛生、扶貧和教育事業) 捐贈了280億美元後，如今比爾?蓋茨以個人財富540億美元退居富豪榜次席。

儘管比爾?蓋茨積累了巨額財富，但仍顯得很謙卑。我們在他位於西雅圖郊區科克蘭德(Kirkland)的辦公室里碰頭後，一起步行穿過馬路來到了開在伍德馬克酒店（Woodmark，當地一家漂亮的酒店）內的沙灘咖啡屋（Beach Café，音譯）。這是個很愜意的地方，可以眺望華盛頓湖(Lake Washington)的風光，但我猜測蓋茨選在此會談主要是圖方便而非純粹享受美食。我倆坐在遠離其他用餐者的酒吧區。蓋茨穿著一件帶拉鏈的亮白色運動衫上衣與淡綠色襯衫，下身穿卡其布褲子，50多歲的他仍顯年輕，只是沙色的頭髮隱隱約約有幾根白髮。

服務員走過來後，蓋茨點了蛤肉雜燴濃湯(clam chowder)、夾乾酪與碎牛肉的三明治(cheeseburger)，我也要了一份同樣的三明治，還點了份蟹糕(crab dip)，然後我倆就開始聊他在西雅圖的生活，他告訴我仍然喜歡開車在西雅圖市裡兜風。蓋茨不喜歡招搖過市，我對此很感興趣，於是我就問他有沒有奢侈一點的愛好，他回答說沒有，並說他的愛好就是打橋牌，況且「全部的『行頭』只需一副牌」。於是我就問蓋茨他算不算個苦行僧呢？他立刻提出異議：「不不不……我有漂亮的辦公室，還有漂亮的家……可見我本人並不排斥好東西，我只是恰巧沒有奢侈的愛好。」但就在距我們幾英里的地方，坐落著他那幢集先進科技於一身的豪宅，據稱價值1.25億美元，豪宅里還包括了一座圖書館，館頂上就寫著摘自《了不起的蓋茨比》(The Great Gatsby)中的某句名言。

蓋茨向我講述了微軟的創建經過，也基本上與錢無關。1975年，在從哈佛退學、全身心投入到運算後，他創建了微軟公司。「我決定退學並創辦微軟公司，並非是因為這是個賺錢的行當。我與保羅?阿倫（Paul Allen，蓋茨兒時的夥伴、微軟公司的合夥創建人）只是痴迷於個人電腦，而且我們很驚訝當時並無他人涉足這個領域……我倆開始著手處理最感興趣的問題，還招了一些特別棒的員工……我們就這樣佔得了先機。」正如蓋茨所言，財富幾乎屬於歪打正著的副產品：「真的是這樣，你如果開發出了好的軟體，推銷它就並非如想像中那樣複雜……軟體推銷很簡單；你竭盡全力地去做，回報肯定比付出多。」

我想蓋茨的諸多競爭對手在聽到他如此輕描淡寫地講述微軟帝國的創建過程後，臉上一定會露出難以置信的神情。蓋茨曾是出了名的「人見人打」的商人，而且在上世紀90年代中葉，微軟被指控存在反競爭行為，最終在美國和歐洲被罰了幾十億美元。

我向他求證當時流行的說法——上個世紀90年代，高效而又無情的微軟公司四處「打壓」它的競爭對手蘋果公司，即便蘋果的鐵杆粉絲仍堅信自家的產品設計得更棒。「我記不得它們被微軟『擠壓』過，」蓋茨哼著鼻子說。「我也不記得曾經發生過微軟『擠壓』競爭對手這樣的事。我們為它們設計相關軟體，而且是在它們處境最艱難的時候。好好想想：到底是誰投資了蘋果公司，讓它們渡過難關？哼！那就是我們微軟公司。」他輕蔑地笑著說。

上世紀90年代末，蓋茨（當時他40來歲）開始把財富投入慈善事業，他的人生方向開始轉軌，其咄咄逼人的形象也隨之改變。「我記得有一年我捐了有160多億美元。」他停頓了一下，隨後含含糊糊（這可不是蓋茨的說話風格）地糾正說，「我覺得應該是2000年：捐款可能甚至有200億美元。」從那以後，他就不斷地捐出個人財富，而且還全力說服其他一些富翁——甲骨文公司的拉里?埃里森(Larry Ellison of Oracle)，CNN的特德?特納(Ted Turner)以及紐約市長邁克爾?布隆伯格(Michael Bloomberg)——把個人大部分財富捐出來做慈善。

蓋茨若有所思地說：在如此年富力強的年齡就作出投身慈善的決定，有些人可能會接受不了。「他們會說出各種理由來推託，原因是：不管你是怎麼賺來的錢，說明你曾經是賺錢的行家裡手，對現在的行當也是輕車熟路……所以說轉向一個全新的領域是相當困難的，而且這有點逼迫自己趕緊考慮身後事的感覺。」

就蓋茨而言，他的家庭本身就有很好的慈善傳統。他已過世的母親瑪麗就曾是國際聯合勸募協會西雅圖分會(the Seattle branch of the United Way International)的負責人，國際聯合勸募協會是一家大型的慈善機構。他的父親老比爾（如今已84歲高齡）也是一位熱心腸的慈善家，目前正在華盛頓州四處奔走，呼籲向富人徵收高稅率。最重要的是：蓋茨的妻子梅琳達（蓋茨與她結識於微軟公司，並於1994年締結連理，他們共育有三個孩子）同樣積極投身慈善事業。如今基金會牆上懸掛的各式匾額明白無誤地詮釋了什麼叫「比爾和梅琳達?蓋茨基金會」。

2008年，蓋茨擔任了微軟非執行董事會主席(non-executive chairman)一職，如今他把絕大部分時間放在基金會。但他說，「我如今花在基金會上的時間，與我『轉行』做慈善前的10年里一樣多。」他停了一會兒，然後接著說：「當然我現在呆在基金會的時間比不上我20來歲、30出頭那陣子，那時的我沒有任何休假，晚上也基本不回家，真到了痴狂的地步。」那幾年，當億萬富翁、投資大師沃倫?巴菲特（Warren Buffett，如今是蓋茨的密友、橋牌搭檔以及蓋茨基金會的主要捐贈人）想要拜會蓋茨，剛開始微軟的這位大忙人日程安排太緊，硬是沒擠出時間來。「那時候我實在太忙了，會見巴菲特這樣的事，我壓根就沒時間做。」於是我立刻暗示性地問他：你沒有社交生活？蓋茨糾正我說：「不，我記得曾有個周日晚上，我回家陪我父母，但我只是不去約見那些投資界的生面孔。」

蓋茨可能已經不像以前那樣是個工作狂，但很顯然，他的全部注意力已被醫學界的挑戰（他的基金會正全力以赴）所吸引——尤其是努力研製治療瘧疾與艾滋病的新疫苗，以及通過接種疫苗根除脊髓灰質炎。看得出來，侃侃而談疫苗研製的時候似乎就是他最開心的時刻，他說話時，雙臂交叉於胸前，坐在凳子上前後輕顛，一副得意的樣子。但他的話又常常被自己突然間的開懷大笑所中斷。當他講述那位首先發現瘧疾是由蚊子傳播的大英帝國駐印度的軍官時，禁不住咯咯直笑：「你知道嗎？老夥計羅斯少校(Sir Ronald Ross)駐在印度，正坐在屋外，基本上無所事事，但他是大英帝國軍隊的一分子，突然間他豁然開朗，嗨嗨！原來傳播（瘧疾）這玩意兒的元兇不是沼澤地的瘴氣，而是蚊子叮咬所致。」

對科技的激情曾讓微軟所向披靡，如今它正被用來尋求醫學突破。我問蓋茨開發軟體與研發疫苗兩者是否有相似之處。「當然有啰，」在啜了一口可樂後，他回答道。「相似之處就是全力支持絕頂聰明的人解決你所認為重要的問題。」他接著說，主要差別就在於需要不同的忍耐度。開發軟體時，你知道它3、4年後是否還能適用……但我們現在做的很多事更多的要以5至10年的時間為考量，如今正在研製中的瘧疾疫苗就是個例子。」

對於正在進行的研製艾滋病與瘧疾疫苗的各個層面的研究工作，蓋茨說得頭頭是道，意猶未盡，然而他未受過任何醫學培訓。在聊到最新的醫學成果時，我問他是否會有力不從心的感覺。他向我投來一絲難以置信的眼神，並且說，「沒有過，因為我拜讀了各種相關材料，我也了解了想要了解的一切。此外，我專門還向該領域的專家請教，他們很透徹地作了講解。所以我了解了很多免疫學的相關知識，這是個極其有趣的領域，」他神情得意地說，接著吃了一口三明治。

蓋茨基金會的一個突出特點是它的援助重點已經走出了美國本土，尤其在非洲與印度。基金會有個專門針對美國教育改革的計劃，但最多的援助資金是支持世界最貧窮地區的醫療和發展事業。蓋茨一錘定音的決定用了堪比經商的效率。「每個人都想儘力發揮每塊錢的作用來改善民生，相比那些基本狀況好很多的地區，在貧窮國家做這些效果要好得多。」

但是，該如何回應那些堅稱對外援助資金使用效率低，蓋茨這麼做實際上是讓錢打水漂的說客？雖然蓋茨說話語氣溫和，但回答得斬釘截鐵。「要我說：如果那些批評者真是發自肺腑，那他們應該做的是：從心底里認同援助，然後再分門別類予以具體甄別……沒有人會把錢送給扎伊爾的獨裁者蒙博托(Mobutu in Zaire)，擔心他肆意揮霍，但那是一種冷戰思維。」另一方面，還有很多「對外援助成功的事例，它們確實發揮了無與倫比的作用」。他如數家珍一一列舉：「綠色革命、大規模減少飢餓、防止饑荒……接種疫苗的顯著成就……從每年有2000萬兒童死亡降至約8百萬，免疫疫苗居功至偉。」至於如何預估有些人的反對意見——說此舉只會導致人口增長失控，從而加劇貧困，蓋茨說研究表明嬰兒死亡率越低、身體越健康的家庭越不想多要孩子。因此他的疫苗接種與脫貧計劃事實上是在幫助防止人口失控，而不是起反作用。

蓋茨作出的決定和援助的項目難免會有各種各樣的政治考量。但與喬治?索羅斯(George Soros)不同的是，蓋茨極力避免成為政治上有爭議的人物。

但是，當我倆談到中國驚人的發展速度與勢頭時，我只是依稀感覺他的政治立場，而當我暗示有些人可能視之為某種威脅時，蓋茨頓時情緒激動：「如果你所關心的不是美國就是英國在這個世界上的相對國力，那麼中國的崛起無疑是個巨大威脅，」他略帶譏諷地笑著說。「就拿美國來說吧，1945年它的實力達到了頂峰。」從那以後，他又指出，其它歐洲和亞洲國家得以恢復，已變得更為繁榮。但蓋茨又說，「即使我全盤否定中國的發展，我想我依然夠不上是個合格的民族主義者。」相反，在談到一個更加富裕的中國能給世界帶來的諸多好處時，蓋茨變得激動不已。「我覺得，中國科學家研製治療癌症的新葯是件好事。想想看，如果我的孩子得了癌症，我才不會在意標籤上寫的是不是 『中國製造』呢！而且，我們有望聘請到中國科學家來研製相關疫苗以及研發能源技術。」

但蓋茨還對環境狀況憂心忡忡，所以我問他中國的快速工業化是否會加劇環境災難。他的本能反應同樣是藉助技術解決：在不付諸於戰爭的前提下，上上策是能找到能源生產的革新辦法。」他十分看好太陽能與核能，並且嘲諷起那些抱怨中國能源需求快速增長的批評者——「我的意思是說，目前中國的人均實際能耗(energy per capita)才是世界的平均水平，批評者憑什麼這樣胡說八道！現在的氣候問題是怎麼造成的？美國人的人均能耗是世界平均值的4倍，英國人是2倍。但現在中國人才消耗了平均水平。」

他又是義憤填膺又是好笑地搖著頭，平生第一次，我認為自己看到了一個口若懸河、滔滔不絕的比爾?蓋茨，一個精力旺盛、挑釁十足、幽默與睿智集一身的比爾?蓋茨。但是，正當他準備接著剛才的話題繼續說時，服務員端來了咖啡——蓋茨剛才就沒要，是我點的濃咖啡（espresso，畢竟這是在西雅圖）。服務員離開後，蓋茨又回到中美關係這個敏感的話題，但這時他的話速明顯慢多了，說話也更謹慎了。

喝完濃咖啡後，我要求買單。取出信用卡時，蓋茨看著我，顯得有點逗。「你真想買單？」他說。「我帶錢了。」

對此我並不懷疑。但按規矩應該由《金融時報》買單。這一次我們就不勞駕比爾?蓋茨破費了，畢竟願意接受他破費的大有人在。

（吉迪恩?拉赫曼是《金融時報》負責國際事務的首席專欄作家。）

訪談地點：華盛頓州西雅圖市科克蘭德伍德馬克酒店(Woodmark Hotel)內的沙灘咖啡屋。

蟹糕：10美元

一杯雜膾（Cup chowder，一種用鮮魚與鹹肉、洋蔥等煨成的食品）：10美元

健怡可樂：10美元

冰水

兩份傳統做法的夾乾酪和碎牛肉的三明治：28美元

濃咖啡：3.25美元

總計：61.25美元

比爾·蓋茨：從程序員到慈善家

作者：亞歷山德拉?科格倫(Alexandra Coghlan）

1955年，威廉?亨利?蓋茨三世(William Henry Gates III)出於華盛頓州西雅圖市。他的母親是位教師，父親是律師。在家裡三個孩子中他排行老二，有一個姐姐和妹妹。

1968年，就讀於私立湖濱中學(Lakeside School)。他的編程才能讓他贏得了為學校編排課表的美差；在後來與人合著的《《擁抱未來》(The Road Ahead)一書中，蓋茨坦承他曾修過改程序密碼，以便他能到女孩最多的課堂聽課。

1973年，在SAT（美國大學入學標準化考試，相當於中國的「高考」）考試中取得1590分（滿分是1600分）的高分，並被哈佛大學錄取。

1975年，蓋茨與兒時夥伴保羅?阿倫(Paul Allen)合開了一家公司，並向MITS公司（世界首台個人電腦生產商）兜售他倆共同編的程序設計語言(programming language)，並給公司取名「微型軟體」 (Micro-Soft)。MITS公司以3000美元（版稅另計）的價格買下了他們編的程序。「微小軟體」改名為「微軟」( Microsoft)，銷售額突破了百萬美元。同年，蓋茨從哈佛退學。

1980年，與IBM高管商談轉讓所開發軟體的相關合同，用於新推出的IBM個人電腦(personal computer)上。

1983年，蓋茨為微軟書寫了正式的、也是最後的代碼行(line of code for)，用於TRS-80 Model 100型筆記本電腦。

1986年，微軟成為上市公司，股票首發價為21美元。

1987年，《福布斯》雜誌(Forbes magazine)把蓋茨評為有史以來最年輕的自力更生型億萬富翁；這年他31歲，個人財富達12.5億美元。同年，蓋茨邂逅他未來的妻子梅琳達? 法蘭奇(Melinda French)，當時她是微軟的一位業務主管。

1994年，蓋茨花費3080萬美元巨資購入達芬奇(Leonardo da Vinci)的手稿Codex Leicester，同年設立威廉?H?蓋茨基金會(William H Gates Foundation)。

1995年，榮登《福布斯》富豪榜首富，並連續蟬聯13年。

1995年，出版首部專著《擁抱未來》，在《紐約時報》(New York Times)暢銷書排行榜上連續7周位列榜首。

1996年，蓋茨與家人搬入耗資5400萬美元、可直接眺望華盛頓湖的量身定製的豪宅。

1998年，出訪比利時，被社會活動分子諾埃爾?戈丁(Noel Godin)用奶油餡餅擊中臉部，戈丁說自己的行為是對「反對等級權力」的抗爭。

1999年，蓋茨的個人財富超過1000億美元。威廉?H?蓋茨基金會正式改名為比爾和梅琳達?蓋茨基金會(Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)，並把主要精力放在國際衛生項目。

2000年，從微軟首席執行官位置上退休。

2004年，歐盟委員會指控微軟存在反競爭行為，並開出了6.27億美元的罰單。

2005年，英國冊封蓋茨榮譽爵士(honorary knighthood)稱號，以表彰其對英國所作的貢獻。昆蟲學家把原產於哥斯大黎加(Costa Rica)一種名叫「Eristalis gatesi」的花以他的名字命名。

2006年，宣布逐步退出微軟的決定，專註於慈善事業。沃倫?巴菲特(Warren Buffett)宣布將在未來30年里捐出價值310億美元的股票。

2007年，蓋茨「最終」從哈佛畢業；哈佛授予其榮譽學位。

2008年，全世界使用微軟Windows操作系統的電腦預計達到10億台。蓋茨不再介入微軟日常事務管理，但仍保留非執行董事會主席一職。在作出一系列捐贈後，個人財富估計為580億美元，並從《福布斯》富豪榜上跌至第三位。

2009年，蓋茨重登《福布斯》財富榜首富。

2010年，卡洛斯?斯利姆?埃盧(Carlos Slim Helú)登上《福布斯》財富榜首富位置，蓋茨屈居次席。比爾和梅琳達?蓋茨基金會各種捐贈額總計已超過220億美元。

I am sitting on a bar stool. On the other side of a round metal table, the world』s second richest man is sipping a Diet Coke, eating french fries with his fingers and explaining the history of the polio vaccine. Bill Gates would still be the richest man in the world, if he didn』t keep giving his money away. Now, after donating $28bn to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – which funds health, development and educational causes – he is down to his last $54bn. For a man who has made such an incredible fortune, Gates seems to have modest tastes. We meet at his office in Kirkland, a suburb of Seattle, and walk across the road to the Beach Café in the Woodmark, a smart local hotel. It is a pleasant enough spot, overlooking Lake Washington, but I am guessing it has been chosen for convenience rather than cuisine. We are seated in the bar area, away from the other diners. Gates is wearing a brilliant white, zip-up sweatshirt over a pale green shirt and khaki trousers. Now in his mid-fifties, he still looks youthful, with just a hint of grey in his sandy hair. A waitress comes into view and Gates orders clam chowder and a cheeseburger. I also go for a cheeseburger, with a crab dip, and we get talking about life in Seattle. He tells me that he still drives himself around the city. Intrigued by his lack of ostentation, I ask whether he has expensive hobbies? Not really, his game is bridge and 「all you need for that is a deck of cards」. So is he an ascetic? Gates demurs – 「No ... I have a nice office. I have a nice house ... So I』m not denying myself some great things. I just don』t happen to have expensive hobbies.」 Just a couple of miles away, however, lies the hi-tech Gates mansion, said to be worth $125m, complete with a library with a quotation from The Great Gatsby on the ceiling. Gates』s account of the origins of Microsoft also has little to do with money. He founded the firm in 1975, after dropping out from Harvard to indulge his passion for computing. 「When I decided to go and start Microsoft, it wasn』t because it was some lucrative career. Paul Allen [his childhood friend and co-founder of Microsoft] and I were just excited about the personal computer and it was something we were surprised nobody else was working on ... We got to work on the most interesting problems and hired incredible people ... We were in on the ground floor.」 As Gates tells it, the money was almost an accidental byproduct: 「Really, if you develop good software, the business isn』t that complicated ... The business side is pretty simple; you try and take in more than you spend.」 I know that many of Gates』s competitors would roll their eyes at that rather artless description of how the Microsoft empire was built. Gates was a famously driven businessman and in the mid-1990s his firm was accused of anticompetitive practices and eventually fined billions of dollars in the US and Europe. I ask about the popular narrative that in the 1990s the ruthlessly efficient Microsoft had 「crushed」 its rival, Apple, even though Apple fans insisted that its products were better designed. 「I don』t remember them being crushed,」 snorts Gates. 「I don』t remember them ever being crushed. We were writing software for them and in their lowest day, who [was it that] invested in Apple to help them out? Well, that was Microsoft. I see,」 he laughs scornfully. In the late 1990s Gates, then in his mid-forties, began to change direction and his tough image changed with it, as he channelled his money into philanthropy. 「I think there was one year that I gave, like, over $16bn.」 He pauses and says with uncharacteristic vagueness, 「I think it was the year 2000: maybe even $20bn.」 Since then he has kept giving and has also devoted himself to persuading fellow billionaires – such as Larry Ellison of Oracle, Ted Turner of CNN and Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York – to give large parts of their fortunes to charity. Gates muses that the decision to turn to philanthropy at an early age can be uncomfortable for some people. 「There』s all sorts of reasons to put off doing it, because however you made your money, you were super-good at it, you know what you are doing ... So getting into something new is very difficult and also it kind of forces you to think about your death.」 In Gates』s case, there is a strong charitable tradition in the family. His late mother Mary chaired the Seattle branch of the United Way International, a major charity. His father Bill senior, now 84, is also an energetic philanthropist, and is currently campaigning for higher taxes on the rich in Washington State. Above all, Gates』s wife, Melinda, whom he met at Microsoft and married in 1994, (the couple has three children) is passionately engaged in the foundation』s work. The plaques on the foundation』s walls say very firmly that it is the 「Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation」. In 2008, Gates became non-executive chairman of Microsoft and he now devotes most of his time to the foundation. But, he says, 「I』m working as many hours now as I did in the decade before I made the transition.」 He pauses. 「I don』t work the hours that I did in my twenties and early thirties, when I took no vacations and didn』t go home most nights. That was true fanaticism.」 In those years, when Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor who is now a close friend, bridge partner and a major donor to the Gates Foundation, wanted to meet the man from Microsoft, Gates initially couldn』t find time in his diary. 「I was too busy; I didn』t do things like that.」 So, I suggest, you had no social life? Gates puts me right: 「No, I socialised with my parents on a Sunday night, but I just didn』t go and meet new people who were involved in investments.」 Gates may no longer be working like a fanatic, but he is clearly utterly gripped by the medical challenges that his foundation is taking on – in particular the effort to develop new vaccines for malaria and HIV and to eradicate polio through vaccination. The moments when he appears to be most enjoying himself are when he gets into the science, and as he talks, he folds his arms across his chest and rocks gently backwards and forwards. But his conversation is also punctuated by sudden bursts of laughter. He chuckles as he describes the British army officer in India, who first discovered that malaria was carried by mosquitoes – 「You know, good old Major Ross was sitting out there in India, not really doing much, but he was part of the British military and he ... figured out, hey, this thing is not about the smell from the swamp, this is the mosquito biting them.」 The passion for science and technology that drove Microsoft forward is now being channelled into the search for medical advances. I ask Gates whether he sees any parallels between the development of software and the development of vaccines. 「Oh sure,」 he replies, taking a sip of Coke. 「It』s backing smart people to solve a problem you think is important.」 The main difference, he says, is the patience required. 「With software you know whether something is right or not in three or four years ... but a lot of the things we』re doing now are more in the five- to 10-year time frame, like this malaria vaccine work.」 Gates talks at length and with great enthusiasm about all the various lines of research being pursued in the search for vaccines for HIV and malaria, but he has no medical training. I ask him whether he ever feels out of his depth, discussing the latest developments. He shoots me a slightly incredulous look and says, 「No, because I read whatever it takes and I get to learn whatever I want to learn. And I get to spend time with people who work in the field and they』re very nice about educating me. So I』ve got to learn a lot about immunology, which is a super-interesting field,」 he says, grinning with pleasure and taking a bite out of his cheeseburger. One striking feature of the foundation is the extent to which its work is focused outside the United States, particularly in Africa and India. There is a programme devoted to educational reform in America but the largest share of the money goes to health and development in the poorest parts of the world. Gates casts the decision almost as a matter of business efficiency. 「You want to improve human life as much as you can sort of per-dollar, and the ability to do that in poor countries is over a hundred times greater than if you are working in an area where the basic situation is much better.」 But what about the lobby of people who insist that foreign aid is ineffective – and that Gates is, in effect, wasting his money? His response is firm, although delivered in mild tones: 「Well, if the critics were serious, what they would do is take aid and start to categorise it ... Nobody gave money to Mobutu in Zaire [thinking] he was spending it well, but that was a cold war calculation.」 On the other hand, there are also 「success stories in aid that are really quite unbelievable」. He ticks them off: 「green revolution, reducing mass starvation, preventing famine ... The whole miracle of vaccination ... The primary reason we』ve gotten down from 20m children dying a year to close to eight million is vaccines.」 Anticipating the objection that this will just cause a population explosion and therefore heighten poverty, Gates says that the research shows that healthier families with lower infant mortality have fewer children. So his vaccination and development programmes are actually helping to prevent a population explosion, rather than causing one. Inevitably, Gates is making decisions and funding projects that have all sorts of political implications. But, unlike George Soros, he has carefully avoided becoming a politically controversial figure. I get just a hint of his politics, however, when we discuss the speed and energy with which China is developing and I suggest that some might find it all a bit scary. The word sets Gates off: 「If all you care about is the US or the UK』s relative strength in the world, then it』s particularly scary,」 he says laughing sarcastically. 「In the US case, 1945 was our relative peak.」 Since then, as he points out, other countries from Europe to Asia have rebuilt and become more prosperous, but, says Gates, 「I guess I』m just not enough of a nationalist to see it all in negative terms.」 On the contrary, Gates is excited by the things that a richer China could bring to the world. 「I think it』s good that Chinese scientists are working on cancer drugs, because if my kid got cancer, I wouldn』t look at the label that says 『made in China』. And, hopefully, we』ll get them working on some of these vaccines and also on energy.」 But Gates is also worried about the environment, so I ask him if the rapid industrialisation of China is a recipe for environmental disaster. Again, his impulse is to look to technology for a solution: 「Short of going to war over this issue, the best way would be to find innovative forms of energy generation」. He is excited by solar and nuclear energy, and mocks those who complain about rising Chinese energy use – 「I mean, these Chinese are actually using as much energy per capita as the average in the world today, how dare they! How did that happen? The US uses four times the average and the Brits double. But now these Chinese are trying to use the average.」 He shakes his head in mock outrage, and for the first time I feel I am seeing Bill Gates in full flow – a mixture of energy, aggression, humour and intellect. But, just as he is warming to his theme, our waitress arrives with the coffee. Gates has declined, but I have ordered a single espresso (we are in Seattle, after all). When the waitress departs and Gates returns to the sensitive theme of American-Chinese relations, he is speaking more slowly and cautiously. I drink up my coffee and ask for the bill. As I produce my credit card, Gates looks slightly amused. 「You sure you want to pay for this?」 he says. 「I got money.」 I don』t doubt it. But the rules are that the FT pays for lunch. We will not be asking for Bill Gates』s charity. There are plenty of other willing takers for that. Gideon Rachman is the FT』s chief international affairs columnist. .................................................. The Beach Café Woodmark Hotel, Kirkland, Seattle, Washington Crab dip $10 Cup chowder $10 Diet Coke $10 Iced water Old School cheeseburger x2 $28 Espresso $3.25 Total $61.25

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