与比尔•盖茨共进午餐

我坐在酒吧的凳子上，金属圆桌对面坐的是世界第二富比尔•盖茨，他一边喝着健怡可乐(Diet Coke)、拿手抓着薯条吃，一边向我介绍着脊髓灰质炎疫苗(polio vaccine)的来龙去脉。如果比尔•盖茨不再到处捐赠他的财富，他仍将是世界首富。在给比尔和梅琳达•盖茨基金会(Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation，主要资助卫生、扶贫和教育事业) 捐赠了280亿美元后，如今比尔•盖茨以个人财富540亿美元退居富豪榜次席。

尽管比尔•盖茨积累了巨额财富，但仍显得很谦卑。我们在他位于西雅图郊区科克兰德(Kirkland)的办公室里碰头后，一起步行穿过马路来到了开在伍德马克酒店（Woodmark，当地一家漂亮的酒店）内的沙滩咖啡屋（Beach Café，音译）。这是个很惬意的地方，可以眺望华盛顿湖(Lake Washington)的风光，但我猜测盖茨选在此会谈主要是图方便而非纯粹享受美食。我俩坐在远离其他用餐者的酒吧区。盖茨穿着一件带拉链的亮白色运动衫上衣与淡绿色衬衫，下身穿卡其布裤子，50多岁的他仍显年轻，只是沙色的头发隐隐约约有几根白发。

服务员走过来后，盖茨点了蛤肉杂烩浓汤(clam chowder)、夹干酪与碎牛肉的三明治(cheeseburger)，我也要了一份同样的三明治，还点了份蟹糕(crab dip)，然后我俩就开始聊他在西雅图的生活，他告诉我仍然喜欢开车在西雅图市里兜风。盖茨不喜欢招摇过市，我对此很感兴趣，于是我就问他有没有奢侈一点的爱好，他回答说没有，并说他的爱好就是打桥牌，况且“全部的‘行头’只需一副牌”。于是我就问盖茨他算不算个苦行僧呢？他立刻提出异议：“不不不……我有漂亮的办公室，还有漂亮的家……可见我本人并不排斥好东西，我只是恰巧没有奢侈的爱好。”但就在距我们几英里的地方，坐落着他那幢集先进科技于一身的豪宅，据称价值1.25亿美元，豪宅里还包括了一座图书馆，馆顶上就写着摘自《了不起的盖茨比》(The Great Gatsby)中的某句名言。

盖茨向我讲述了微软的创建经过，也基本上与钱无关。1975年，在从哈佛退学、全身心投入到运算后，他创建了微软公司。“我决定退学并创办微软公司，并非是因为这是个赚钱的行当。我与保罗•阿伦（Paul Allen，盖茨儿时的伙伴、微软公司的合伙创建人）只是痴迷于个人电脑，而且我们很惊讶当时并无他人涉足这个领域……我俩开始着手处理最感兴趣的问题，还招了一些特别棒的员工……我们就这样占得了先机。”正如盖茨所言，财富几乎属于歪打正着的副产品：“真的是这样，你如果开发出了好的软件，推销它就并非如想象中那样复杂……软件推销很简单；你竭尽全力地去做，回报肯定比付出多。”

我想盖茨的诸多竞争对手在听到他如此轻描淡写地讲述微软帝国的创建过程后，脸上一定会露出难以置信的神情。盖茨曾是出了名的“人见人打”的商人，而且在上世纪90年代中叶，微软被指控存在反竞争行为，最终在美国和欧洲被罚了几十亿美元。

我向他求证当时流行的说法——上个世纪90年代，高效而又无情的微软公司四处“打压”它的竞争对手苹果公司，即便苹果的铁杆粉丝仍坚信自家的产品设计得更棒。“我记不得它们被微软‘挤压’过，”盖茨哼着鼻子说。“我也不记得曾经发生过微软‘挤压’竞争对手这样的事。我们为它们设计相关软件，而且是在它们处境最艰难的时候。好好想想：到底是谁投资了苹果公司，让它们渡过难关？哼！那就是我们微软公司。”他轻蔑地笑着说。

上世纪90年代末，盖茨（当时他40来岁）开始把财富投入慈善事业，他的人生方向开始转轨，其咄咄逼人的形象也随之改变。“我记得有一年我捐了有160多亿美元。”他停顿了一下，随后含含糊糊（这可不是盖茨的说话风格）地纠正说，“我觉得应该是2000年：捐款可能甚至有200亿美元。”从那以后，他就不断地捐出个人财富，而且还全力说服其他一些富翁——甲骨文公司的拉里•埃里森(Larry Ellison of Oracle)，CNN的特德•特纳(Ted Turner)以及纽约市长迈克尔•布隆伯格(Michael Bloomberg)——把个人大部分财富捐出来做慈善。

盖茨若有所思地说：在如此年富力强的年龄就作出投身慈善的决定，有些人可能会接受不了。“他们会说出各种理由来推托，原因是：不管你是怎么赚来的钱，说明你曾经是赚钱的行家里手，对现在的行当也是轻车熟路……所以说转向一个全新的领域是相当困难的，而且这有点逼迫自己赶紧考虑身后事的感觉。”

就盖茨而言，他的家庭本身就有很好的慈善传统。他已过世的母亲玛丽就曾是国际联合劝募协会西雅图分会(the Seattle branch of the United Way International)的负责人，国际联合劝募协会是一家大型的慈善机构。他的父亲老比尔（如今已84岁高龄）也是一位热心肠的慈善家，目前正在华盛顿州四处奔走，呼吁向富人征收高税率。最重要的是：盖茨的妻子梅琳达（盖茨与她结识于微软公司，并于1994年缔结连理，他们共育有三个孩子）同样积极投身慈善事业。如今基金会墙上悬挂的各式匾额明白无误地诠释了什么叫“比尔和梅琳达•盖茨基金会”。

2008年，盖茨担任了微软非执行董事会主席(non-executive chairman)一职，如今他把绝大部分时间放在基金会。但他说，“我如今花在基金会上的时间，与我‘转行’做慈善前的10年里一样多。”他停了一会儿，然后接着说：“当然我现在呆在基金会的时间比不上我20来岁、30出头那阵子，那时的我没有任何休假，晚上也基本不回家，真到了痴狂的地步。”那几年，当亿万富翁、投资大师沃伦•巴菲特（Warren Buffett，如今是盖茨的密友、桥牌搭档以及盖茨基金会的主要捐赠人）想要拜会盖茨，刚开始微软的这位大忙人日程安排太紧，硬是没挤出时间来。“那时候我实在太忙了，会见巴菲特这样的事，我压根就没时间做。”于是我立刻暗示性地问他：你没有社交生活？盖茨纠正我说：“不，我记得曾有个周日晚上，我回家陪我父母，但我只是不去约见那些投资界的生面孔。”

盖茨可能已经不像以前那样是个工作狂，但很显然，他的全部注意力已被医学界的挑战（他的基金会正全力以赴）所吸引——尤其是努力研制治疗疟疾与艾滋病的新疫苗，以及通过接种疫苗根除脊髓灰质炎。看得出来，侃侃而谈疫苗研制的时候似乎就是他最开心的时刻，他说话时，双臂交叉于胸前，坐在凳子上前后轻颠，一副得意的样子。但他的话又常常被自己突然间的开怀大笑所中断。当他讲述那位首先发现疟疾是由蚊子传播的大英帝国驻印度的军官时，禁不住咯咯直笑：“你知道吗？老伙计罗斯少校(Sir Ronald Ross)驻在印度，正坐在屋外，基本上无所事事，但他是大英帝国军队的一分子，突然间他豁然开朗，嗨嗨！原来传播（疟疾）这玩意儿的元凶不是沼泽地的瘴气，而是蚊子叮咬所致。”

对科技的激情曾让微软所向披靡，如今它正被用来寻求医学突破。我问盖茨开发软件与研发疫苗两者是否有相似之处。“当然有啰，”在啜了一口可乐后，他回答道。“相似之处就是全力支持绝顶聪明的人解决你所认为重要的问题。”他接着说，主要差别就在于需要不同的忍耐度。开发软件时，你知道它3、4年后是否还能适用……但我们现在做的很多事更多的要以5至10年的时间为考量，如今正在研制中的疟疾疫苗就是个例子。”

对于正在进行的研制艾滋病与疟疾疫苗的各个层面的研究工作，盖茨说得头头是道，意犹未尽，然而他未受过任何医学培训。在聊到最新的医学成果时，我问他是否会有力不从心的感觉。他向我投来一丝难以置信的眼神，并且说，“没有过，因为我拜读了各种相关材料，我也了解了想要了解的一切。此外，我专门还向该领域的专家请教，他们很透彻地作了讲解。所以我了解了很多免疫学的相关知识，这是个极其有趣的领域，”他神情得意地说，接着吃了一口三明治。

盖茨基金会的一个突出特点是它的援助重点已经走出了美国本土，尤其在非洲与印度。基金会有个专门针对美国教育改革的计划，但最多的援助资金是支持世界最贫穷地区的医疗和发展事业。盖茨一锤定音的决定用了堪比经商的效率。“每个人都想尽力发挥每块钱的作用来改善民生，相比那些基本状况好很多的地区，在贫穷国家做这些效果要好得多。”

但是，该如何回应那些坚称对外援助资金使用效率低，盖茨这么做实际上是让钱打水漂的说客？虽然盖茨说话语气温和，但回答得斩钉截铁。“要我说：如果那些批评者真是发自肺腑，那他们应该做的是：从心底里认同援助，然后再分门别类予以具体甄别……没有人会把钱送给扎伊尔的独裁者蒙博托(Mobutu in Zaire)，担心他肆意挥霍，但那是一种冷战思维。”另一方面，还有很多“对外援助成功的事例，它们确实发挥了无与伦比的作用”。他如数家珍一一列举：“绿色革命、大规模减少饥饿、防止饥荒……接种疫苗的显著成就……从每年有2000万儿童死亡降至约8百万，免疫疫苗居功至伟。”至于如何预估有些人的反对意见——说此举只会导致人口增长失控，从而加剧贫困，盖茨说研究表明婴儿死亡率越低、身体越健康的家庭越不想多要孩子。因此他的疫苗接种与脱贫计划事实上是在帮助防止人口失控，而不是起反作用。

盖茨作出的决定和援助的项目难免会有各种各样的政治考量。但与乔治•索罗斯(George Soros)不同的是，盖茨极力避免成为政治上有争议的人物。

但是，当我俩谈到中国惊人的发展速度与势头时，我只是依稀感觉他的政治立场，而当我暗示有些人可能视之为某种威胁时，盖茨顿时情绪激动：“如果你所关心的不是美国就是英国在这个世界上的相对国力，那么中国的崛起无疑是个巨大威胁，”他略带讥讽地笑着说。“就拿美国来说吧，1945年它的实力达到了顶峰。”从那以后，他又指出，其它欧洲和亚洲国家得以恢复，已变得更为繁荣。但盖茨又说，“即使我全盘否定中国的发展，我想我依然够不上是个合格的民族主义者。”相反，在谈到一个更加富裕的中国能给世界带来的诸多好处时，盖茨变得激动不已。“我觉得，中国科学家研制治疗癌症的新药是件好事。想想看，如果我的孩子得了癌症，我才不会在意标签上写的是不是 ‘中国制造’呢！而且，我们有望聘请到中国科学家来研制相关疫苗以及研发能源技术。”

但盖茨还对环境状况忧心忡忡，所以我问他中国的快速工业化是否会加剧环境灾难。他的本能反应同样是借助技术解决：在不付诸于战争的前提下，上上策是能找到能源生产的革新办法。”他十分看好太阳能与核能，并且嘲讽起那些抱怨中国能源需求快速增长的批评者——“我的意思是说，目前中国的人均实际能耗(energy per capita)才是世界的平均水平，批评者凭什么这样胡说八道！现在的气候问题是怎么造成的？美国人的人均能耗是世界平均值的4倍，英国人是2倍。但现在中国人才消耗了平均水平。”

他又是义愤填膺又是好笑地摇着头，平生第一次，我认为自己看到了一个口若悬河、滔滔不绝的比尔•盖茨，一个精力旺盛、挑衅十足、幽默与睿智集一身的比尔•盖茨。但是，正当他准备接着刚才的话题继续说时，服务员端来了咖啡——盖茨刚才就没要，是我点的浓咖啡（espresso，毕竟这是在西雅图）。服务员离开后，盖茨又回到中美关系这个敏感的话题，但这时他的话速明显慢多了，说话也更谨慎了。

喝完浓咖啡后，我要求买单。取出信用卡时，盖茨看着我，显得有点逗。“你真想买单？”他说。“我带钱了。”

对此我并不怀疑。但按规矩应该由《金融时报》买单。这一次我们就不劳驾比尔•盖茨破费了，毕竟愿意接受他破费的大有人在。

（吉迪恩•拉赫曼是《金融时报》负责国际事务的首席专栏作家。）

访谈地点：华盛顿州西雅图市科克兰德伍德马克酒店(Woodmark Hotel)内的沙滩咖啡屋。

蟹糕：10美元

一杯杂脍（Cup chowder，一种用鲜鱼与咸肉、洋葱等煨成的食品）：10美元

健怡可乐：10美元

冰水

两份传统做法的夹干酪和碎牛肉的三明治：28美元

浓咖啡：3.25美元

总计：61.25美元

比尔·盖茨：从程序员到慈善家

作者：亚历山德拉•科格伦(Alexandra Coghlan）

1955年，威廉•亨利•盖茨三世(William Henry Gates III)出于华盛顿州西雅图市。他的母亲是位教师，父亲是律师。在家里三个孩子中他排行老二，有一个姐姐和妹妹。

1968年，就读于私立湖滨中学(Lakeside School)。他的编程才能让他赢得了为学校编排课表的美差；在后来与人合著的《《拥抱未来》(The Road Ahead)一书中，盖茨坦承他曾修过改程序密码，以便他能到女孩最多的课堂听课。

1973年，在SAT（美国大学入学标准化考试，相当于中国的“高考”）考试中取得1590分（满分是1600分）的高分，并被哈佛大学录取。

1975年，盖茨与儿时伙伴保罗•阿伦(Paul Allen)合开了一家公司，并向MITS公司（世界首台个人电脑生产商）兜售他俩共同编的程序设计语言(programming language)，并给公司取名“微型软件” (Micro-Soft)。MITS公司以3000美元（版税另计）的价格买下了他们编的程序。“微小软件”改名为“微软”( Microsoft)，销售额突破了百万美元。同年，盖茨从哈佛退学。

1980年，与IBM高管商谈转让所开发软件的相关合同，用于新推出的IBM个人电脑(personal computer)上。

1983年，盖茨为微软书写了正式的、也是最后的代码行(line of code for)，用于TRS-80 Model 100型笔记本电脑。

1986年，微软成为上市公司，股票首发价为21美元。

1987年，《福布斯》杂志(Forbes magazine)把盖茨评为有史以来最年轻的自力更生型亿万富翁；这年他31岁，个人财富达12.5亿美元。同年，盖茨邂逅他未来的妻子梅琳达• 法兰奇(Melinda French)，当时她是微软的一位业务主管。

1994年，盖茨花费3080万美元巨资购入达芬奇(Leonardo da Vinci)的手稿Codex Leicester，同年设立威廉•H•盖茨基金会(William H Gates Foundation)。

1995年，荣登《福布斯》富豪榜首富，并连续蝉联13年。

1995年，出版首部专著《拥抱未来》，在《纽约时报》(New York Times)畅销书排行榜上连续7周位列榜首。

1996年，盖茨与家人搬入耗资5400万美元、可直接眺望华盛顿湖的量身定制的豪宅。

1998年，出访比利时，被社会活动分子诺埃尔•戈丁(Noel Godin)用奶油馅饼击中脸部，戈丁说自己的行为是对“反对等级权力”的抗争。

1999年，盖茨的个人财富超过1000亿美元。威廉•H•盖茨基金会正式改名为比尔和梅琳达•盖茨基金会(Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)，并把主要精力放在国际卫生项目。

2000年，从微软首席执行官位置上退休。

2004年，欧盟委员会指控微软存在反竞争行为，并开出了6.27亿美元的罚单。

2005年，英国册封盖茨荣誉爵士(honorary knighthood)称号，以表彰其对英国所作的贡献。昆虫学家把原产于哥斯达黎加(Costa Rica)一种名叫“Eristalis gatesi”的花以他的名字命名。

2006年，宣布逐步退出微软的决定，专注于慈善事业。沃伦•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)宣布将在未来30年里捐出价值310亿美元的股票。

2007年，盖茨“最终”从哈佛毕业；哈佛授予其荣誉学位。

2008年，全世界使用微软Windows操作系统的电脑预计达到10亿台。盖茨不再介入微软日常事务管理，但仍保留非执行董事会主席一职。在作出一系列捐赠后，个人财富估计为580亿美元，并从《福布斯》富豪榜上跌至第三位。

2009年，盖茨重登《福布斯》财富榜首富。

2010年，卡洛斯•斯利姆•埃卢(Carlos Slim Helú)登上《福布斯》财富榜首富位置，盖茨屈居次席。比尔和梅琳达•盖茨基金会各种捐赠额总计已超过220亿美元。

I am sitting on a bar stool. On the other side of a round metal table, the world’s second richest man is sipping a Diet Coke, eating french fries with his fingers and explaining the history of the polio vaccine. Bill Gates would still be the richest man in the world, if he didn’t keep giving his money away. Now, after donating $28bn to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – which funds health, development and educational causes – he is down to his last $54bn. For a man who has made such an incredible fortune, Gates seems to have modest tastes. We meet at his office in Kirkland, a suburb of Seattle, and walk across the road to the Beach Café in the Woodmark, a smart local hotel. It is a pleasant enough spot, overlooking Lake Washington, but I am guessing it has been chosen for convenience rather than cuisine. We are seated in the bar area, away from the other diners. Gates is wearing a brilliant white, zip-up sweatshirt over a pale green shirt and khaki trousers. Now in his mid-fifties, he still looks youthful, with just a hint of grey in his sandy hair. A waitress comes into view and Gates orders clam chowder and a cheeseburger. I also go for a cheeseburger, with a crab dip, and we get talking about life in Seattle. He tells me that he still drives himself around the city. Intrigued by his lack of ostentation, I ask whether he has expensive hobbies? Not really, his game is bridge and “all you need for that is a deck of cards”. So is he an ascetic? Gates demurs – “No ... I have a nice office. I have a nice house ... So I’m not denying myself some great things. I just don’t happen to have expensive hobbies.” Just a couple of miles away, however, lies the hi-tech Gates mansion, said to be worth $125m, complete with a library with a quotation from The Great Gatsby on the ceiling. Gates’s account of the origins of Microsoft also has little to do with money. He founded the firm in 1975, after dropping out from Harvard to indulge his passion for computing. “When I decided to go and start Microsoft, it wasn’t because it was some lucrative career. Paul Allen [his childhood friend and co-founder of Microsoft] and I were just excited about the personal computer and it was something we were surprised nobody else was working on ... We got to work on the most interesting problems and hired incredible people ... We were in on the ground floor.” As Gates tells it, the money was almost an accidental byproduct: “Really, if you develop good software, the business isn’t that complicated ... The business side is pretty simple; you try and take in more than you spend.” I know that many of Gates’s competitors would roll their eyes at that rather artless description of how the Microsoft empire was built. Gates was a famously driven businessman and in the mid-1990s his firm was accused of anticompetitive practices and eventually fined billions of dollars in the US and Europe. I ask about the popular narrative that in the 1990s the ruthlessly efficient Microsoft had “crushed” its rival, Apple, even though Apple fans insisted that its products were better designed. “I don’t remember them being crushed,” snorts Gates. “I don’t remember them ever being crushed. We were writing software for them and in their lowest day, who [was it that] invested in Apple to help them out? Well, that was Microsoft. I see,” he laughs scornfully. In the late 1990s Gates, then in his mid-forties, began to change direction and his tough image changed with it, as he channelled his money into philanthropy. “I think there was one year that I gave, like, over $16bn.” He pauses and says with uncharacteristic vagueness, “I think it was the year 2000: maybe even $20bn.” Since then he has kept giving and has also devoted himself to persuading fellow billionaires – such as Larry Ellison of Oracle, Ted Turner of CNN and Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York – to give large parts of their fortunes to charity. Gates muses that the decision to turn to philanthropy at an early age can be uncomfortable for some people. “There’s all sorts of reasons to put off doing it, because however you made your money, you were super-good at it, you know what you are doing ... So getting into something new is very difficult and also it kind of forces you to think about your death.” In Gates’s case, there is a strong charitable tradition in the family. His late mother Mary chaired the Seattle branch of the United Way International, a major charity. His father Bill senior, now 84, is also an energetic philanthropist, and is currently campaigning for higher taxes on the rich in Washington State. Above all, Gates’s wife, Melinda, whom he met at Microsoft and married in 1994, (the couple has three children) is passionately engaged in the foundation’s work. The plaques on the foundation’s walls say very firmly that it is the “Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation”. In 2008, Gates became non-executive chairman of Microsoft and he now devotes most of his time to the foundation. But, he says, “I’m working as many hours now as I did in the decade before I made the transition.” He pauses. “I don’t work the hours that I did in my twenties and early thirties, when I took no vacations and didn’t go home most nights. That was true fanaticism.” In those years, when Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor who is now a close friend, bridge partner and a major donor to the Gates Foundation, wanted to meet the man from Microsoft, Gates initially couldn’t find time in his diary. “I was too busy; I didn’t do things like that.” So, I suggest, you had no social life? Gates puts me right: “No, I socialised with my parents on a Sunday night, but I just didn’t go and meet new people who were involved in investments.” Gates may no longer be working like a fanatic, but he is clearly utterly gripped by the medical challenges that his foundation is taking on – in particular the effort to develop new vaccines for malaria and HIV and to eradicate polio through vaccination. The moments when he appears to be most enjoying himself are when he gets into the science, and as he talks, he folds his arms across his chest and rocks gently backwards and forwards. But his conversation is also punctuated by sudden bursts of laughter. He chuckles as he describes the British army officer in India, who first discovered that malaria was carried by mosquitoes – “You know, good old Major Ross was sitting out there in India, not really doing much, but he was part of the British military and he ... figured out, hey, this thing is not about the smell from the swamp, this is the mosquito biting them.” The passion for science and technology that drove Microsoft forward is now being channelled into the search for medical advances. I ask Gates whether he sees any parallels between the development of software and the development of vaccines. “Oh sure,” he replies, taking a sip of Coke. “It’s backing smart people to solve a problem you think is important.” The main difference, he says, is the patience required. “With software you know whether something is right or not in three or four years ... but a lot of the things we’re doing now are more in the five- to 10-year time frame, like this malaria vaccine work.” Gates talks at length and with great enthusiasm about all the various lines of research being pursued in the search for vaccines for HIV and malaria, but he has no medical training. I ask him whether he ever feels out of his depth, discussing the latest developments. He shoots me a slightly incredulous look and says, “No, because I read whatever it takes and I get to learn whatever I want to learn. And I get to spend time with people who work in the field and they’re very nice about educating me. So I’ve got to learn a lot about immunology, which is a super-interesting field,” he says, grinning with pleasure and taking a bite out of his cheeseburger. One striking feature of the foundation is the extent to which its work is focused outside the United States, particularly in Africa and India. There is a programme devoted to educational reform in America but the largest share of the money goes to health and development in the poorest parts of the world. Gates casts the decision almost as a matter of business efficiency. “You want to improve human life as much as you can sort of per-dollar, and the ability to do that in poor countries is over a hundred times greater than if you are working in an area where the basic situation is much better.” But what about the lobby of people who insist that foreign aid is ineffective – and that Gates is, in effect, wasting his money? His response is firm, although delivered in mild tones: “Well, if the critics were serious, what they would do is take aid and start to categorise it ... Nobody gave money to Mobutu in Zaire [thinking] he was spending it well, but that was a cold war calculation.” On the other hand, there are also “success stories in aid that are really quite unbelievable”. He ticks them off: “green revolution, reducing mass starvation, preventing famine ... The whole miracle of vaccination ... The primary reason we’ve gotten down from 20m children dying a year to close to eight million is vaccines.” Anticipating the objection that this will just cause a population explosion and therefore heighten poverty, Gates says that the research shows that healthier families with lower infant mortality have fewer children. So his vaccination and development programmes are actually helping to prevent a population explosion, rather than causing one. Inevitably, Gates is making decisions and funding projects that have all sorts of political implications. But, unlike George Soros, he has carefully avoided becoming a politically controversial figure. I get just a hint of his politics, however, when we discuss the speed and energy with which China is developing and I suggest that some might find it all a bit scary. The word sets Gates off: “If all you care about is the US or the UK’s relative strength in the world, then it’s particularly scary,” he says laughing sarcastically. “In the US case, 1945 was our relative peak.” Since then, as he points out, other countries from Europe to Asia have rebuilt and become more prosperous, but, says Gates, “I guess I’m just not enough of a nationalist to see it all in negative terms.” On the contrary, Gates is excited by the things that a richer China could bring to the world. “I think it’s good that Chinese scientists are working on cancer drugs, because if my kid got cancer, I wouldn’t look at the label that says ‘made in China’. And, hopefully, we’ll get them working on some of these vaccines and also on energy.” But Gates is also worried about the environment, so I ask him if the rapid industrialisation of China is a recipe for environmental disaster. Again, his impulse is to look to technology for a solution: “Short of going to war over this issue, the best way would be to find innovative forms of energy generation”. He is excited by solar and nuclear energy, and mocks those who complain about rising Chinese energy use – “I mean, these Chinese are actually using as much energy per capita as the average in the world today, how dare they! How did that happen? The US uses four times the average and the Brits double. But now these Chinese are trying to use the average.” He shakes his head in mock outrage, and for the first time I feel I am seeing Bill Gates in full flow – a mixture of energy, aggression, humour and intellect. But, just as he is warming to his theme, our waitress arrives with the coffee. Gates has declined, but I have ordered a single espresso (we are in Seattle, after all). When the waitress departs and Gates returns to the sensitive theme of American-Chinese relations, he is speaking more slowly and cautiously. I drink up my coffee and ask for the bill. As I produce my credit card, Gates looks slightly amused. “You sure you want to pay for this?” he says. “I got money.” I don’t doubt it. But the rules are that the FT pays for lunch. We will not be asking for Bill Gates’s charity. There are plenty of other willing takers for that. Gideon Rachman is the FT’s chief international affairs columnist. .................................................. The Beach Café Woodmark Hotel, Kirkland, Seattle, Washington Crab dip $10 Cup chowder $10 Diet Coke $10 Iced water Old School cheeseburger x2 $28 Espresso $3.25 Total $61.25

1955 William Henry Gates III born in Seattle, Washington. His mother is a schoolteacher, his father a lawyer. The middle of three children, he has an older and young sister.

盖茨可能已经不像以前那样是个工作狂，但很显然，他的全部注意力已被医学界的挑战（他的基金会正全力以赴）所吸引——尤其是努力研制治疗疟疾与艾滋病的新疫苗，以及通过接种疫苗根除脊髓灰质炎。看得出来，侃侃而谈疫苗研制的时候似乎就是他最开心的时刻，他说话时，双臂交叉于胸前，坐在凳子上前后轻颠，一副得意的样子。但他的话又常常被自己突然间的开怀大笑所中断。当他讲述那位首先发现疟疾是由蚊子传播的大英帝国驻印度的军官时，禁不住咯咯直笑：“你知道吗？老伙计罗斯少校(Sir Ronald Ross)驻在印度，正坐在屋外，基本上无所事事，但他是大英帝国军队的一分子，突然间他豁然开朗，嗨嗨！原来传播（疟疾）这玩意儿的元凶不是沼泽地的瘴气，而是蚊子叮咬所致。”

1968 Enrols at the private Lakeside School. His programming abilities earn him the task of preparing class schedules; Gates later admits in co-authored book The Road Ahead to modifying the code to put himself in classes with the most female students.

对科技的激情曾让微软所向披靡，如今它正被用来寻求医学突破。我问盖茨开发软件与研发疫苗两者是否有相似之处。“当然有啰，”在啜了一口可乐后，他回答道。“相似之处就是全力支持绝顶聪明的人解决你所认为重要的问题。”他接着说，主要差别就在于需要不同的忍耐度。开发软件时，你知道它3、4年后是否还能适用……但我们现在做的很多事更多的要以5至10年的时间为考量，如今正在研制中的疟疾疫苗就是个例子。”

1973 Scores 1590 out of 1600 on his SATs, America’s standardised test for college admission. Accepted by Harvard University.

对于正在进行的研制艾滋病与疟疾疫苗的各个层面的研究工作，盖茨说得头头是道，意犹未尽，然而他未受过任何医学培训。在聊到最新的医学成果时，我问他是否会有力不从心的感觉。他向我投来一丝难以置信的眼神，并且说，“没有过，因为我拜读了各种相关材料，我也了解了想要了解的一切。此外，我专门还向该领域的专家请教，他们很透彻地作了讲解。所以我了解了很多免疫学的相关知识，这是个极其有趣的领域，”他神情得意地说，接着吃了一口三明治。

1975 Gates goes into partnership with childhood friend Paul Allen. They pitch a programming language to MITS, makers of the first personal computer, and christen their partnership “Micro-Soft”. MITS buy the programming for $3,000 plus royalties. Micro-Soft becomes Microsoft, and sales exceed $1m. Gates drops out of Harvard.

盖茨基金会的一个突出特点是它的援助重点已经走出了美国本土，尤其在非洲与印度。基金会有个专门针对美国教育改革的计划，但最多的援助资金是支持世界最贫穷地区的医疗和发展事业。盖茨一锤定音的决定用了堪比经商的效率。“每个人都想尽力发挥每块钱的作用来改善民生，相比那些基本状况好很多的地区，在贫穷国家做这些效果要好得多。”

1980 Meets with IBM executives to pitch for the software contract for its new personal computer, the PC.

但是，该如何回应那些坚称对外援助资金使用效率低，盖茨这么做实际上是让钱打水漂的说客？虽然盖茨说话语气温和，但回答得斩钉截铁。“要我说：如果那些批评者真是发自肺腑，那他们应该做的是：从心底里认同援助，然后再分门别类予以具体甄别……没有人会把钱送给扎伊尔的独裁者蒙博托(Mobutu in Zaire)，担心他肆意挥霍，但那是一种冷战思维。”另一方面，还有很多“对外援助成功的事例，它们确实发挥了无与伦比的作用”。他如数家珍一一列举：“绿色革命、大规模减少饥饿、防止饥荒……接种疫苗的显著成就……从每年有2000万儿童死亡降至约8百万，免疫疫苗居功至伟。”至于如何预估有些人的反对意见——说此举只会导致人口增长失控，从而加剧贫困，盖茨说研究表明婴儿死亡率越低、身体越健康的家庭越不想多要孩子。因此他的疫苗接种与脱贫计划事实上是在帮助防止人口失控，而不是起反作用。

1983 Gates writes his last official line of code for Microsoft, for the TRS-80 Model 100 portable computer.

盖茨作出的决定和援助的项目难免会有各种各样的政治考量。但与乔治•索罗斯(George Soros)不同的是，盖茨极力避免成为政治上有争议的人物。

1986 Microsoft becomes a public company with an initial share price of $21.

但是，当我俩谈到中国惊人的发展速度与势头时，我只是依稀感觉他的政治立场，而当我暗示有些人可能视之为某种威胁时，盖茨顿时情绪激动：“如果你所关心的不是美国就是英国在这个世界上的相对国力，那么中国的崛起无疑是个巨大威胁，”他略带讥讽地笑着说。“就拿美国来说吧，1945年它的实力达到了顶峰。”从那以后，他又指出，其它欧洲和亚洲国家得以恢复，已变得更为繁荣。但盖茨又说，“即使我全盘否定中国的发展，我想我依然够不上是个合格的民族主义者。”相反，在谈到一个更加富裕的中国能给世界带来的诸多好处时，盖茨变得激动不已。“我觉得，中国科学家研制治疗癌症的新药是件好事。想想看，如果我的孩子得了癌症，我才不会在意标签上写的是不是 ‘中国制造’呢！而且，我们有望聘请到中国科学家来研制相关疫苗以及研发能源技术。”

1987 Forbes magazine names Gates the youngest ever self-made billionaire; he is 31 with a fortune of $1.25bn. Gates meets future wife Melinda French, a Microsoft executive.

但盖茨还对环境状况忧心忡忡，所以我问他中国的快速工业化是否会加剧环境灾难。他的本能反应同样是借助技术解决：在不付诸于战争的前提下，上上策是能找到能源生产的革新办法。”他十分看好太阳能与核能，并且嘲讽起那些抱怨中国能源需求快速增长的批评者——“我的意思是说，目前中国的人均实际能耗(energy per capita)才是世界的平均水平，批评者凭什么这样胡说八道！现在的气候问题是怎么造成的？美国人的人均能耗是世界平均值的4倍，英国人是2倍。但现在中国人才消耗了平均水平。”

1994 Gates buys a copy of the Codex Leicester – a collection of writings by Leonardo da Vinci – for $30.8m and founds the William H Gates Foundation.

他又是义愤填膺又是好笑地摇着头，平生第一次，我认为自己看到了一个口若悬河、滔滔不绝的比尔•盖茨，一个精力旺盛、挑衅十足、幽默与睿智集一身的比尔•盖茨。但是，正当他准备接着刚才的话题继续说时，服务员端来了咖啡——盖茨刚才就没要，是我点的浓咖啡（espresso，毕竟这是在西雅图）。服务员离开后，盖茨又回到中美关系这个敏感的话题，但这时他的话速明显慢多了，说话也更谨慎了。

1995 Tops Forbes’s rich list for the first of 13 consecutive years.

喝完浓咖啡后，我要求买单。取出信用卡时，盖茨看着我，显得有点逗。“你真想买单？”他说。“我带钱了。”

1995 His first book, The Road Ahead, spends seven weeks at the top of the New York Times bestseller list.

对此我并不怀疑。但按规矩应该由《金融时报》买单。这一次我们就不劳驾比尔•盖茨破费了，毕竟愿意接受他破费的大有人在。

1996 Gates and his family move into a purpose-built, $54m home overlooking Lake Washington.

（吉迪恩•拉赫曼是《金融时报》负责国际事务的首席专栏作家。）

1998 While visiting Belgium, Gates is hit in the face with a cream pie by social activist Noel Godin, who describes his action as a rebellion “against hierarchical powers”.

访谈地点：华盛顿州西雅图市科克兰德伍德马克酒店(Woodmark Hotel)内的沙滩咖啡屋。

1999 Gates’s personal worth is estimated to exceed $100bn. The William H Gates Foundation, renamed the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is devoted primarily to international health projects.

蟹糕：10美元

2000 Steps down as chief executive of Microsoft.

一杯杂脍（Cup chowder，一种用鲜鱼与咸肉、洋葱等煨成的食品）：10美元

2004 The European Commission fines Microsoft $627m for anticompetitive practices.

健怡可乐：10美元

2005 Awarded an honorary knighthood for his contribution to the UK. Entomologists name a Costa Rican flower fly, “Eristalis gatesi”, after him.

冰水

2006 Announces decision to phase out involvement with Microsoft, focusing instead on the work of his charity. Warren Buffett donates shares worth $31bn, to be released over a generation.

两份传统做法的夹干酪和碎牛肉的三明治：28美元

2007 Gates finally “graduates”; Harvard awards him honorary degree.

浓咖啡：3.25美元

2008 Number of computers running Windows worldwide estimated at 1bn. Gates ceases day-to-day involvement with Microsoft, but retains a position as non-executive chairman. Valued at $58bn after his charitable giving, Gates drops to third on Forbes’ rich list.

总计：61.25美元

2009 Gates tops Forbes’ rich list.

比尔·盖茨：从程序员到慈善家

2010 Carlos Slim Helú tops the list, pushing Gates into second place. Total charitable donations from the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation exceed $22bn.

作者：亚历山德拉•科格伦(Alexandra Coghlan）

1955年，威廉•亨利•盖茨三世(William Henry Gates III)出于华盛顿州西雅图市。他的母亲是位教师，父亲是律师。在家里三个孩子中他排行老二，有一个姐姐和妹妹。

1968年，就读于私立湖滨中学(Lakeside School)。他的编程才能让他赢得了为学校编排课表的美差；在后来与人合著的《《拥抱未来》(The Road Ahead)一书中，盖茨坦承他曾修过改程序密码，以便他能到女孩最多的课堂听课。

1973年，在SAT（美国大学入学标准化考试，相当于中国的“高考”）考试中取得1590分（满分是1600分）的高分，并被哈佛大学录取。

1975年，盖茨与儿时伙伴保罗•阿伦(Paul Allen)合开了一家公司，并向MITS公司（世界首台个人电脑生产商）兜售他俩共同编的程序设计语言(programming language)，并给公司取名“微型软件” (Micro-Soft)。MITS公司以3000美元（版税另计）的价格买下了他们编的程序。“微小软件”改名为“微软”( Microsoft)，销售额突破了百万美元。同年，盖茨从哈佛退学。

1980年，与IBM高管商谈转让所开发软件的相关合同，用于新推出的IBM个人电脑(personal computer)上。

1983年，盖茨为微软书写了正式的、也是最后的代码行(line of code for)，用于TRS-80 Model 100型笔记本电脑。

1986年，微软成为上市公司，股票首发价为21美元。

1987年，《福布斯》杂志(Forbes magazine)把盖茨评为有史以来最年轻的自力更生型亿万富翁；这年他31岁，个人财富达12.5亿美元。同年，盖茨邂逅他未来的妻子梅琳达• 法兰奇(Melinda French)，当时她是微软的一位业务主管。

1994年，盖茨花费3080万美元巨资购入达芬奇(Leonardo da Vinci)的手稿Codex Leicester，同年设立威廉•H•盖茨基金会(William H Gates Foundation)。

1995年，荣登《福布斯》富豪榜首富，并连续蝉联13年。

1995年，出版首部专著《拥抱未来》，在《纽约时报》(New York Times)畅销书排行榜上连续7周位列榜首。

1996年，盖茨与家人搬入耗资5400万美元、可直接眺望华盛顿湖的量身定制的豪宅。

1998年，出访比利时，被社会活动分子诺埃尔•戈丁(Noel Godin)用奶油馅饼击中脸部，戈丁说自己的行为是对“反对等级权力”的抗争。

1999年，盖茨的个人财富超过1000亿美元。威廉•H•盖茨基金会正式改名为比尔和梅琳达•盖茨基金会(Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)，并把主要精力放在国际卫生项目。

2000年，从微软首席执行官位置上退休。

2004年，欧盟委员会指控微软存在反竞争行为，并开出了6.27亿美元的罚单。

2005年，英国册封盖茨荣誉爵士(honorary knighthood)称号，以表彰其对英国所作的贡献。昆虫学家把原产于哥斯达黎加(Costa Rica)一种名叫“Eristalis gatesi”的花以他的名字命名。

2006年，宣布逐步退出微软的决定，专注于慈善事业。沃伦•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)宣布将在未来30年里捐出价值310亿美元的股票。

2007年，盖茨“最终”从哈佛毕业；哈佛授予其荣誉学位。

2008年，全世界使用微软Windows操作系统的电脑预计达到10亿台。盖茨不再介入微软日常事务管理，但仍保留非执行董事会主席一职。在作出一系列捐赠后，个人财富估计为580亿美元，并从《福布斯》富豪榜上跌至第三位。

2009年，盖茨重登《福布斯》财富榜首富。

2010年，卡洛斯•斯利姆•埃卢(Carlos Slim Helú)登上《福布斯》财富榜首富位置，盖茨屈居次席。比尔和梅琳达•盖茨基金会各种捐赠额总计已超过220亿美元。