Bill Gates Grows Up

There has always been something faintly juvenile about Bill Gates.

But now Bill Gates has finally grown up.

He had one idea in his life, played one game. And in many ways the creation of Microsoft was a game. A grand game, a great game, but still, a game. And the game really ended 10 years ago.

Since then, Gates has been trying to find himself. He is dedicated to the memory of his mother, Mary. He has found love and friendship in his wife, Melinda. He has kids now. And he doesn’t want those kids growing up to be Paris Hilton.

So for the last several years he has been trying to put his vast fortune to use, as Andrew Carnegie did a century ago. His intent is to leave his kids no more than a grubstake, an opportunity and not a fortune.

What he has found along the way is that this is a full-time job. You don’t put $50 billion to work readily or easily. Even as a part-time gig, his foundation work made him Time Man of the Year.  Imagine what he can do if he really devotes himself to it?

So now he will. And good for him.

But that leaves me with one question:

If Bill really gets good at this, and finds the limit of his power to influence change, and looks at how badly our government is run, could he, maybe,  try and take another job?

Stay tuned. Gates-Winfrey 2016?