Bill Gates’ Suicide Letter

On September 19, 2013, William Henry Gates III, once the world’s richest man and hailed by many as the father of personal computing, took his own life by placing in his mouth a live grenade. He left a suicide note in his laptop. The odt file entitled “End Of File Error” contains the following:

I started at a young age as a rouge programmer with a simple goal: make computers help everyone. At my ignorant age, I was not even sure or even fully conscious of this goal; it’s just in the background of my mind. Youth made focus more on the acts and not the goal. My talents in mathematical logic and cunning socio-marketing skills eventually allowed me to start a small copycat company, Microsoft. As timing and geography would have it, my products spread like bushfire to engulf the world. I became the richest man, and that easily was translated to be the greediest man, and hence, the most hated man. I was despised virtually by the entire world. I was the emperor without clothes, ashamed and naked, for I knew everyone around me smiled when I was around only because of my money, but when I’m not around they spit in disgust because of my money, my gargantuan money.

Success, it seems, is a trophy anyone hardworking deserves; anyone except me. Success is my burden, one I cannot let go. Not due to selfishness or pride, but due to the entanglement of my success to the affairs of the world. Stopping my “greed” is not as simple as others think. It is not simply changing my company or giving my products for free. The world and the economics in it, is entangled with the existence and structure of my company; and decisions to undo the empire I have built may have dire ramifications.

First, Microsoft is the sun of the computing industry’s solar system. Companies, large, medium or small, depend their products according to my company’s framework. My capitalism is the foundation of their capitalism. Their business model follows mine. Hence, with apologies to all socialists, I cannot steer away Microsoft from its capitalist structure. Tons of employees, contracts, sub-contracts, commissioned works and financial tie-ups depend on my company’s ability to produce mountain ranges of money. Jobs, economies and technologies depend on Microsoft’s dependability in profit production. I cannot allow people to lose jobs just to make software free for a few enthusiasts.

Second, Microsoft is the minimum benchmark of the world’s computing technology. I need to pool the best programmers and engineers to sustain the technological growth of the world. Again, I need money for this; I need a capitalist company for this. I cannot expect the best programmers work their asses off if I have no money to entice them.

Third, Microsoft’s name and resources aid many countries in a multitude of means. Microsoft provides funds to foundations and non-governmental organizations, it gives free computers to schools, it aids governments through grants and computer infrastructure aids, it does a lot of social and community help no one realizes. Of the top ten richest people of the world, only two of us substantially “give back” to the world. I never saw the sultan of Brunei give away his money, but he is not as hated as I am.

I cannot change the sentiment of an entire world. The world curses me to inferno, nothing I can do will change this. As I said, I have no choice, I cannot stop the “greedy” means of my company, the world is too dependent with the structure of my company. Perhaps there is no way out. As in traversing algorithmic decision paths, I have reached my end and yet I have done nothing but err. This is my End Of File, my End Of Life. I have no decision path left, I cannot close or minimize what I have started, and all has resulted in error. My first program said Hello World. Now, this is my final process, Goodbye World.

Bill.