The World's 50 Greatest Leaders

Rank
10
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Bill Gates

WGL.10.Bill-Gates
Microsoft co-founder turned mega-philanthropist Bill Gates .Xxx Bill Gates147 Jpg Ca Robert Hanashiro, USAT/ReutersRobert Hanashiro—USAT/Reuters
  • Title
    Cofounder
  • Affiliation
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Five years ago, with spooky precision, Gates warned us we’d be where we are now if we didn’t prepare for a pandemic. (We didn’t prepare.) Luckily, Gates did—putting his money in 2017 behind CEPI, an organization that has already ushered eight COVID-19 vaccine candidates into development. In February, Gates deployed funding to ready critical public health infrastructure in Africa and South Asia for the virus’s onslaught.