Bill Gates

I would be glad to pass along your thoughts on this to the right person at Microsoft - they care a lot about getting accessibility right.

I benefited from having a great education - public schools through 6th grade and then a great private School (Lakeside). So there is a good chance I would never have gotten turned on to software and math the way I did and therefore not as successful.

Yes. I don't have to think about health costs or college costs. Being free from worry about financial things is a real blessing. Of course you don't need a billion to get to that point. We do need to reduce the cost growth in these areas so they are accessible to everyone.

There are many domains to be successful in. I was a success in getting good grades and test scores in high school. I was a success at writing good code by my early 20s. The dream of the PC being an enabling tool came true by the 1990s. Now I am working on being a good father and the ambitious goals of the Foundation including getting rid of polio and malaria. I think it is always good to have goals where your success is in doubt and I have that in many areas including the work I do on climate change.

I think our system can be a lot more progressive (that is richer people paying a higher share).

A key element is making capital gains taxation more like ordinary income (some have suggested making them the same) and having an estate tax more like we had in the past (55% above $3.5M)

European countries collect a lot more taxes but through consumption taxes but those are not progressive.

If people want the government to do more it needs to be funded and I see us needing to improve our education and health services.

So yes I have paid $10B but I should have had to pay more on my capital gains.

I have a nice house. It includes a trampoline room which seems kind of over the top but my kids love using it to work off their excess energy. I am not sure how guilty I should feel about being in a great house.

The other thing is that I sometimes use a private jet. It does help me do my foundation work but again it is a very privileged thing to have.

When I code I use tabs because you want the columns to line up. For some word documents I use tabs. You want things to adjust when you go back and edit them and tabs help.

The goal of the Foundation is that all kids grow up healthy - no matter where they are born. That means getting rid of malaria and many of the other diseases that affect poor countries. It should be achievable in my lifetime.

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I never visited any of his islands. I did have meetings where Global Health funding was discussed. In retrospect I regret meeting with him.

I sometimes wear a hat. For example when I did college tours with my son I wanted the focus to be totally on him. A lot less people recognize me when I have a hat on or else they realize I am trying to be incognito.

Mostly when people do recognize me they are super nice so I don't feel it is a burden to be noticed most of the time.