By Will Sturgeon, 2 July 2005 16:55
NEWS Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates made a surprise appearance at the Live 8 concert in London's Hyde Park today to urge world leaders to do more to ease the problem of Africa's crippling debt and extreme poverty.
Gates' presence on a stage shared with the likes of Elton John, REM and Coldplay may have seemed out of place to some but he was also in the presence of famous friends and fellow humanitarians such as U2 singer Bono.
Gates was introduced to the crowd by Live 8 founder Bob Geldof who praised the charitable work of the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation and hailed the software tycoon as the world's most important philanthropist.
Gates told the crowd and a worldwide audience of millions "if you show people the problems and you show people the solutions they will be moved to act".
"The huge turnout for Live 8 here and around the world shows that," he added.
Gates said, if successful Live 8 will prove to be the "best thing humanity has ever done".
For many, Gates' final task of introducing UK singer Dido will have served as evidence of the slightly surreal nature of such all-star, cross-cultural events.
World's richest man delighted to introduce Dido.
However, a number of the musicians and comedians taking part in the BBC's broadcast coverage of the live event also made the softly spoken and understated Gates a butt of some fairly predictable jokes.
Comedians David Walliams and Matt Lucas, who had previously introduced Elton John, made light of Gates' stage presence and his failure to work the crowd like some of the other acts on the bill, while host Jonathan Ross questioned why the Microsoft boss hadn't stuck around to "explain why Windows keeps crashing".
Comments
There are 10 comments. Join the discussion
1. Mike W
Actually, Ross asked why Windows kept cwashing, but that was just as obvious as his "joke".
2. anonymous
Jonathan Ross would do better to keep his mouth closed, Small minded people often have very big mouths!
3. DogStar
"The world's most important philanthropist" is also the world's most important convicted monopolist.
Ask yourself a two questions:
1) Is the Gates Foundation tax efficient?
2) Can you think of a better way to generate positive PR for your failing reputation than ploughing 100s of millions (a fraction of MS' revenue) into charitable causes?
Yes, he gives a lot of money to all sorts of people but I can't help thinking that Bill's core motivation at Live 8 was self-promotion first. Altruism came a long way second.
4. Albert Dursley
Cheap jokes are so easy they are pathetic. Give the guy a break, he gives more to charity than many nations let alone individuals. Forget Microsoft for a second and applaud what the man does.
5. J Smith
WINDOWS RULES! Thats why Bill Gates is where he is. If you have problems with it switch to Sun, Linux etc etc. Chances are you'll want windows back the next day.... Try IT!
6. Bob Ross
Small minded people often tell others to keep their mouths closed.
7. Andy L
Could 'anonymous from Cheshire' please lighten up. It was just a joke. Ross'y was only there to provide a little light relief and also to help deliver some serious messages. Chill out, man.
8. Kevin Foxworthy
Way to go, J.Smith! That is exactly why Bill is where he is and the the rest of the jealous, envious, complaining hordes are where they are. Not that Bill cares what they think!
Windows is ubiquitous. Sure, it may crash. What OS will never crash?
For a man who doesn't need to give a single penny to charity, as some rich misers do, there is nothing wrong with self-promotion.
I think it is a matter of sour grapes for all those anti-Bill naysayers. And, Bill will not lose a single brain cell - they are the ones who will!
9. DogStar
The idea that Bill Gates appeared like a knight in shining armour to lead all
customers out of a mire of technological chaos neatly ignores the fact that
it was he who, by peddling second-rate technology, led them into it in the
first place.
- Douglas Adams in The Guardian, 25th August 1995
10. anonymous
HEHEH niceone mike w Well said.
I think it is briliant that the mix of people showing up on stage was so big, it was all for the bigger picture!
Michael