Billionaire, Nerd, Saviour, King

Bill Gates is one of the most powerful figures of the past four decades. But the world-famous public image he has so carefully crafted is not the whole truth. In this explosive new book, Anupreeta Das (finance editor of the New York Times) takes you behind the façade.

From his early years, when he was a divisive figure in the burgeoning tech industry, we see the Microsoft co-founder morph into a ruthless capitalist, only to change yet again when he fashions himself into a global do-gooder. But as Das’s revelatory reporting shows us: billionaires have secrets and philanthropy can have a dark side.

Drawing upon hundreds of interviews with current and former employees of the Gates Foundation, Microsoft, and those with insight into the Gates universe, Das delves into Gates’s relationships with Warren Buffett, Jeffrey Epstein, Melinda French Gates and others to uncover the man behind the persona. In telling Gates’s story, Das also provides a new way to think about how billionaires wield their influence, manipulate their image and pursue philanthropy to achieve their own ends.

Billionaire, Nerd, Saviour, King is a gripping story of wealth, power and reputation; it will open your eyes to the ways in which the world’s richest people hold us in their thrall.

Review

‘With delicious stories and dogged attention to detail, Anupreeta Das delves into the paradox of Bill Gates: a man whose intellectual prowess and vast wealth simultaneously uplift and complicate the fabric of society. A compelling read about one of the most powerful people on the planet’ -- Rob Reich, Stanford Professor and author of Just Giving: Why Philanthropy is Failing Democracy and How It Can Do Better

‘In tight, elegant prose, Anupreeta Das’ Billionaire, Nerd, Saviour, King shares the fascinating life story of Bill Gates and then uses it to ask and to answer timely and important questions about the roles that the wealthiest Americans play in our increasingly stratified society. It’s the book we need right this minute’ -- William D. Cohan, founding partner of Puck and bestselling author of House of Cards and Power Failure

‘Anupreeta Das’s fascinating and ambitious Billionaire, Nerd, Saviour, King shows – through the complicated story of a single tycoon – how the power and the perils of enormous wealth shape and distort not only what we expect of our democratic institutions, our tax system, our public health infrastructure; it also examines how all of us are complicit in, but often aware of, the ways in which the wealthy use that wealth and that power to turn greed into generosity and immorality into heroism’ -- Jesse Eisinger, author of The Chickenshit Club

‘A vivid, deeply reported look at one of the most influential figures in business and technology that confronts the urgent question of whether empire-builders such as Gates play too large a part in shaping the world we live in’ -- Sheelah Kolhatkar, author of Black Edge

‘Wonderful . . . It raises important questions about the myths surrounding billionaires, how our adoration of male tech geeks obscures larger questions about their behaviour, and the good and bad of the philanthropy of the very wealthy’ -- Bethany McLean, co-author of The Smartest Guys in the Room

‘A sharply incisive portrait’ ― Kirkus Reviews

‘Das widens the lens through which Gates’ life and career is viewed. Each facet of his reputation is couched within a larger framework of capitalism, social justice, and entrepreneurship to question the outsized sway Gates and others of his rank hold over society writ large. Venturing deep into every aspect of Gates’ professional and private spheres, Das offers a balanced, perceptive, and thought-provoking portrait of a man and his times’ ― Booklist

‘A perceptive and vibrant character portrait’ ― Publishers Weekly

‘Unpicking one of the most powerful figures in the world . . . Gripping and shocking, we bet you won’t be able to put this down’ ― Luxury London

‘Ms Das considers different facets of Mr Gates’s life, from his friendship with Warren Buffett and the breakdown of his marriage to the running of his foundation and the management of his wealth. Some of this is eye-opening . . . But Ms Das’s book is most interesting when it shows how Mr Gates has influenced other billionaires – how they have emulated him, and how they have not’ ― The Economist

About the Author

Anupreeta Das is the finance editor of the New York Times, overseeing coverage of Wall Street, including banking, investing, markets, insurance, and consumer finance. Previously, Das spent nearly a decade at the Wall Street Journal, where she helped run the paper's coverage of business and technology, focusing on corporations and the issues affecting them. She holds degrees from Boston University, the London School of Economics, and the University of Delhi.