More anti-SpaceX than anti-vax - 6th March 2023

As the wealth of billionaires continues to grow, so does their power to influence politics and tackle global issues. However, many of them seem to be more interested in space exploration than addressing pressing problems on Earth. Billionaires like former CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos, British mogul Richard Branson and Tesla founder Elon Musk have all established private space travel ventures. SpaceX, co-founded by Musk in 2002, is set on colonising Mars.

Nevertheless, former richest man in the world Bill Gates has a different approach. He believes that vaccines could save more lives and are far more feasible than space exploration. In a recent statement, in a BBC interview, he expressed "It's actually quite expensive to go to Mars. You can buy measles vaccines and save lives for $1000 per life saved."

Gates’s philanthropic efforts have seen him donate billions of dollars to good causes, particularly those concerned with world health and climate change as well as, together with his ex-wife, establishing the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has been tackling economic and social inequality worldwide for over two decades. The foundation's fixated on global health issues, spending billions to eradicate COVID-19 during the pandemic, including funding vaccine research and vaccine distribution efforts.

In spite of his charitable efforts, Gates has also come up against criticism. Some conspiracy theorists have accused Gates of starting or profiting from the pandemic, while others baselessly claimed that he put microchips in vaccines in a bid for control over the masses.

Environmentalists have also chimed in, criticising the Microsoft cofounder for travelling by private jet. With commercial and private jets responsible for 10 percent of transport greenhouse emissions in the USA, they deem Gates's actions hypocritical for someone claiming to be fighting climate change. However, coming to his own defence, Gates pointed out "I spend billions of dollars on climate innovation" and that the bulk of his travelling’s for philanthropic work.

Having been interrogated by the BBC about his divorce and the possibility of falling in love again, the tech tycoon exclaimed with a resounding "Sure, I'm not a robot."