Bill Gates is of the opinion that tech companies deserve ‘the kind of control’ they were given during the congressional hearings last month, and that the late Steve Jobs was a ‘genius’, he told the Armchair Expert podcast.
“If you’re as successful as I am as one of those people, then you deserve rude, unfair, difficult questions,” the Microsoft founder told host Dax Shepard. “The government deserves to have shots fired at you,” Gates said. “That kind of grilling comes with the super successful territory. It’s going well. ”
Gates referred to the July 29 hearing before the House Judiciary Committee where the CEOs of Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon were questioned about their business practices as part of an ongoing anti-trust investigation.
During the broad podcast interview, Gates talked about his foundation’s work on faxes and what it was like to start Microsoft, but he also talked about what it was like to be a celebrity; he says the idea of becoming tech entrepreneurs famous in popular culture became somewhat familiar. ‘It was crazy because I was nerdy and not very sociable, to then be rocketed to this realm of’ what does he say about this, what does he say about it, what does he say semi-interesting ‘was, who, what’s going on. “
As for his late rival, Gates said he was not as “tough” as Steve Jobs, but admired how Jobs turned Apple around when he returned to the company.
“Jobs was a genius, which he did, especially when he returned to Apple … no one else could do what he did there. I could not have done that. Gates acknowledged that he was jealous of the late Apple CEO’s charisma. “He was such a wizard to people who were too motivating – I was a little wizard, so I could not fall under his spelling – but I could see how he spells,” Gates joked. “I was so jealous.”
Gates even talked about what he considers to be some of his personal shortcomings. “I’m not very social, I do not know how to cook and I am very embarrassed that I do not speak [other] languages fluently, ”he said.
For those who have not listened, the Armchair Expert podcast has a kind of geeky fan-tone to it (cohost Monica Padman, for example, asks Gates’ favorite color at one point. It’s blue), but the format may have made Gates suddenly a little relaxed; he admits that he shares Shepard’s affinity for Diet Coke, for example, says he meditates with the help of Headspace, and that he’s a big fan of the movie. Spy game, starring Brad Pitt.
To hear a less-formal version of Bill Gates, you can check out the podcast here.
