Gates rues his megawealth

By Simon Aughton

Posted on 8 May 2006 at 11:49

Poor Bill Gates: the world's richest man has revealed that he wishes he was not.

'There's nothing good that comes out of that,' the Microsoft founder told a conference of online advertising executives near the company's Redmond, Washington HQ.

Gates is worth an estimated $50bn, although he has made considerable efforts to give a lot away. With an endowment of $29.1bn, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the world's largest philanthropic organisation.

Despite complaining that his wealth makes him more visible, Gates said that he rarely gets hassled.

'I'm not bothered when I'm out in public or anything,' he said. 'Someone might ask for a signature, rarely, but that's not a difficult thing.'